Battlefield 2185
by GreaterGoodIreland
Summary: The end of the Eden Prime War saw the liberation of Rannoch, humans on the Council, the revelation of the Reapers to the galaxy... and the 'assassination' of Shepard. Two years later, the Reapers still have not returned, the galaxy is on the brink of war yet again, and Cerberus knows more than it should. - AU ME2 with the background of Battlefield 2142 - HFY -
1. Chapter 1: Jack

_AUTHOR'S FOREWORD:_

 _Welcome to Battlefield 2185!_

 _The world of this story blends the human civilisation seen in the Battlefield 2142 FPS with the world of Mass Effect._

 _This is a sequel to Battlefield 2183, which told of the war against the geth. It will not be necessary to read that to enjoy this, as the style will be changing a little to better suit feedback I've gotten. Some also didn't like the close-to-canon beginning of 2183. This will be more divergent right from the get-go. The timeline below Chapter One summarises BF2183 for those that don't wish to read the preceding story for whatever reason, but you may still wish to read the codex chapters of that story._

 _There will also be three short stories in an interquel called Battlefield 2184, following four of the human characters (Ashley, Kaidan, Haider and Jack) in the interim. The first of these is already released._

 _The events leading to humanity's arrival on the galactic scene and the events of 2183 will be related within this chapter after the main part._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

 _ **It is the year 2185.**_

 _ **Two years ago, the human colony of Eden Prime was attacked by the geth. The Systems Alliance responded to this provocation with the answer humans always gave when attacked so boldly: War.**_

 _ **The aid of the Quarian Migrant Fleet was secured. Rannoch was liberated. A corridor between the Perseus Veil and the Traverse carved out of the Terminus pirate realms. Saren, the traitor that had unleashed the geth was executed. Those synthetics that survived the war surrendered. Their bodies and their connection to the rest of the galaxy taken away.**_ _ ** _ **The war was won.**_ Their Reaper masters revealed to the galaxy, thanks to the actions of Commander Shepard and the crew of the SSV Normandy. The galaxy looked towards uniting against the existential threat lurking in the depths of dark space.**_

 _ **Yet the Reapers have not come.**_

 _ **The unity of the galaxy has been undermined by uncertainty about when the great threat could arrive, and the major species build new fleets and armies out of fear of each other as much as the common enemy.**_

 _ **Along the long new borders created by the "Eden Prime War", the pirates and warlords of the Terminus chafe against the new sovereignty of the Quarians and the expanded Systems Alliance.**_

 _ **Within the Terminus, Cerberus fights a proxy conflict against the pirates to defend the independent human worlds that looks close to engulfing the entire region.**_

 _ **The Consuls, the leaders of humanity, debate whether or not to launch a pre-emptive strike as they did against Khar'shan the year before, whether or not to take the resources of the Terminus for the armament efforts and eliminate the pirate threat.**_

 _ **Shepard has been missing, presumed dead for more than a year. Attacked on the Citadel by unknown assailants, her body was never found.**_

 _ **War is coming once more.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One: Jack**

The small shuttle glided smoothly towards the huge form of the ship, a dark shadow against the backdrop of the yellow and red gas giant. Its edges were softened by the glow of its drives discharging the excess energy built up over a long FTL jump, but it retained the menacing profile expected of it. To either side, more shuttles, moving in with their emissions captured by the stealth systems, moving not by thrusters but by the manipulated gravity of Tantalus drives. In front, the first of the target ship's turrets came into view on the magnified image in the cockpit.

Jack narrowed her eyes, trying to identify the place the breach would be made, idly scratching at the armour the hard radiation and vacuum outside forced her to wear for the mission. It itched, probably because it was brand new and the bodysuit hadn't been washed properly of disinfectant. She cursed, wishing she had brought something to wear underneath it that covered a little more skin. A rare complaint for her.

The action had drawn the eyes of two of the other occupants of the passenger bay.

"Problem, Lieutenant?" asked Commander Taylor.

Jack immediately halted the scratching, and sat back down in her seat, looking up at the standing N7 as she did so. "Nope," she said, "Just looking."

The other person who was looking at her quietly chuckled. Which would have been grounds for an insult and a punch, had he been a mere private or corporal, but the triple gold stripe of a Rear-Admiral was on the front of his own armour.

"Are you nervous, lieutenant?" Anderson asked, "Nothing wrong with that if you are. This is not exactly a milk run."

Jack crossed her arms. "If I was the nervous type, you wouldn't have taken me from my unit," she said, "You pissed off General Haider bigtime doing it."

"You were being wasted in the _Fallschirmjager_ ," Anderson agreed, "And your step-mother's objections notwithstanding, it wasn't appropriate for you to remain under her command, even indirectly. Not after Illium."

"Fucking Illium," Jack swore, throwing up her hands, "I didn't even kill a single person there, that time."

"You say that as if it's a bad thing," said Taylor wistfully.

"Hannah Shepard blows their power grid, causes planet wide riots and almost starts a war with the asari," Jack complained, taking her helmet into her hands, "And I'm the one who nearly gets shitcanned for behaviour unbecoming an officer. Fucking politicians."

" _Fucking_ politicians indeed," Anderson replied, to Jack's wide-eyed surprise, "You're not the only one with that sort of problem, lieutenant. It only gets worse with rank, I promise you."

"Good thing I'm as highly ranked as I'll ever be," Jack said flatly. She didn't want to be more than she was. A filthy mouthed, filthy minded leader of a platoon, with the biotic capabilities of a decently powerful asari matriarch. She smiled to herself, contented with that.

"Never say never," said Taylor out of the blue. Reacting to her own smile, she saw. She threw him a middle finger for the trouble. He threw one back.

"Pilot, any sign of LADAR?" Anderson said, shaking his head at their mutual display, "We're nearing the point of no return."

"None, sir," the pilot replied.

"Good," Anderson said to himself, before tapping the screen beside his chair. Jack watched him open the comms screen, and activated the QEC. Stealth shuttles, stealth comms, stealth cloaks... The Alliance had gotten pretty damn good at hiding, she thought to herself. All the better to get the drop on Cerberus, she hoped.

"This is Anderson," he said, "Status report."

"63rd SR Flotilla ready," came the reply, "JRS, _Pointe du Hoc, Pegasus Bridge, Juno, Gold, Sword, Utah, Omaha, St. Mere Eglise, Caen and Carentan_ all report in the green. The Fifth Fleet are on standby to jump as required if the escorts begin acting aggressively. Buoy is deployed."

"We are one minute out," said Anderson, craning his neck to look forwards through the cockpit compartment, "Activate the buoy and broadcast in the clear. Maintain stealth and use passive targeting only."

Jack looked out the front viewing window again, and saw the ship ahead had grown to encompass everything, the yellow three pronged symbol of Cerberus clearly visible on the hull alongside the name of the vessel. A suitably ominous name it was too.

" _Attention Cerberus vessel Anubis,_ " said Anderson's pre-recorded voice via the comm buoy, " _This is the guided missile destroyer Jane R Shepard. You are surrounded by the 63_ _rd_ _Stealth Reconnaissance Flotilla of the Alliance Fifth Fleet. You are hereby ordered to surrender, in accordance with the War Powers Acts. Prepare to be boarded._ "

The shuttle jolted, as it landed hard against the side of the _Anubis_. The magnetic locks latching on to the hull announced themselves with a harsh thump-click, and the jolting stopped dead for a moment.

"Helmets on!" Taylor said loudly, "Brace for impact! Vent the cabin in twenty seconds!"

Jack shoved her helmet on over her partially shaved head, the smell of the same disinfectant that had made her itch filling her nostrils as she secured the neck ring in place and the inside of the suit pressurised. A distinct rumbling began; the torpedoes from the _Pointe du Hoc_ and the _Carentan_ were slamming into the engine structures of the _Anubis_ as planned, nearly a kilometre away towards the stern. Brief flashes of bright purple announced the dark energy singularities swirling, either on the edges of the huge ship's barriers or within the engines, tearing them to pieces.

It was pretty, Jack decided, but there was no way in hell the gunners responsible could see that beauty. Just another reason not to be a Navy girl; who wanted to blow things up when you couldn't see it? Either way, Cerberus couldn't escape now. The Illusive Man and all his little minions were going to pay today. She watched, ignoring the slight hiss as the air was sucked out of the shuttle to allow them to work.

"Lieutenant Haider, front and centre!" said Commander Taylor, as he unravelled a breaching cord from the minifacturer attached to his omnitool, "Prepare for breach."

" _Jawohl_ ," Jack said, moving into the middle of the shuttle's compartment and opened the bottom hatch, twisting the safety handles two at a time and flipping the composite deck plate up and to the side.

The Commander laid the breaching cord in a square onto the black-coated metal below, as wide as the hatch would allow without damaging the shuttle itself. The rest of the squad on board, men and women that Jack didn't know well as she had been moved to Anderson's detail at the last minute, crowded around and covered the whole arrangement with their weapons.

"Fire in the hole!" Taylor declared, before tapping his omnitool.

Jack summoned her biotics as the breaching cord detonated in a white flash. The metal below sundered into a square, and was pushed outwards into the shuttle by the atmosphere contained within it. Using the air pressure inside to do the dirty work was one thing, but a large piece of flying metal in a zero g setting was another. Jack caught the metal with a biotic pull, bringing it to a stop at knee level and setting it aside, before it could bounce around the inside of the compartment.

They didn't have long before the life support systems would detect a pressure drop, which could have activated emergency atmospheric shielding. Jack dove into the hole, knowing that was what she was there for. The change in the gravity's direction danced a jig in her stomach, but it was not something she was unused to, and she gracefully landed on her feet in the room beyond. It was some sort of access corridor, its walls being nothing but bare unpolished metal seeming to stretch the whole length of the ship, and very minimal lighting. Further down, she could see other teams breaching or entering, and it seemed all were getting in safely.

There was no one waiting to meet her with a gun, so she sprang to the side and clicked the comms control on her neck to let the others know it was safe to enter. They all came through the hole, including the pilot, with a bit more difficulty than she had, but she laid the blame for that with the fact they were in a hurry.

Anderson recovered quickest, to her surprise, and took a look down both ways of the corridor. "They really did just slap guns on a _Nile_ -class," he thought aloud, "They didn't bother to remove the civilian external accessways."

"More power to us," Taylor said, bringing his rifle into his hands, "Which way sir?"

"CIC is that way," Anderson said pointing towards the bow, before activating his comms, "First turn on our left. All teams, advance."

The next minutes were a flurry of clearing corners, meeting up with other teams and advances deeper into the ship. Occasionally, the sounds of running footsteps could be heard, but no one challenged them. It set Jack's teeth on edge, forcing her to clench her jaw to stop herself from bitching about the lack of targets and how bad a sign that was. Everyone present was already aware.

The reason became apparent as they reached the section where the CIC was in the 'head' of the ship. The Cerberus troops, what few of them were on board, had concentrated to defend the place. The huge central passageway of the ship was bristling with them, the lighting being far better there to see them. At their head, a woman with long black hair in a white bodysuit, toting an assault rifle. Jack wondered if the woman had a latex fetish, finding the possibility interesting only until she reminded herself that this was the enemy.

The assault forces took up positions opposite, keeping to the cover of storage crates and metal railings as best they could. Yet no shooting started, to the absolute disappointment of Jack.

"Miranda Lawson," Anderson noted, "That's a good sign. If she's here, then the Illusive Man should be too."

"The soldiers with her are not a good sign though," Taylor said, "They have only half our number, maybe, but they're the ones holding the defensive position, not us. The ordnance they're carrying doesn't look too friendly either."

Jack felt the rage tickle the back of her brain with heat, her heart pumping faster with the urge to fight that Cerberus themselves had engrained in her with drugs. She knew she had to fight, right here and now. Every instinct screamed at her to charge right there and then. But her step-mother had taught her the right response to that. "You said there's lots of civilian accesspoints, right?" Jack said quickly, before anyone else could speak, "Go take everyone through them, they can't defend every nook."

"That sounded like you aren't coming along, Haider," Taylor warned, "Which isn't the deal. You follow orders, you don't give them." Fucking boyscout, she thought.

Jack didn't move her eyes off the figure of Lawson. "That bitch has answers," she said, "And I'm going to fold her like fucking origami until I get them out of her. She's a powerful biotic anyway, you don't want to fight her in a maze. I'll deal with her."

"See that you do, Lieutenant," said Anderson, putting his hand on Taylor's shoulder before he could react, "Teams One through three to starboard. Teams four through six to port. Advance and engage."

The JANUS teams did as they were ordered, and dispersed into the side corridors and up access ladders, Taylor and Anderson with them. The Commander shot her a narrow look of disapproval before he vanished. She just gave him one back.

Jack waited where she was as the others disappeared back into the corridors behind, stripping off her heavy armour down to the barrier plates and exposing her tattooed body, anticipating the moment to strike with a familiar giddiness. She pulled the leather tangle of her underarm holsters on, and pulled the pistols out from them. The hunger for the fight grew with her anticipation. She felt like she was starving all of a sudden, and a big juicy steak was being dangled in front of her.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the Cerberus troops to begin moving, trickling away to the sides. The internal surveillance systems must have raised the alarm. They departed two teams at a time, to make sure it wasn't some sort of feint that could be exploited to take the central passage. The sounds of gunfire began echoing through the open doorways in front. The distinctive chattering of the Alliance weapons interspersed with the louder _crack-crack_ of Cerberus heavy semi-autos.

When Jack saw that all of the Cerberus troopers had gone and Lawson looked ready to leave, she burst into a run straight down the passageway, vaulting onto the raised transport tram track that ran down the middle. It was still below where her target was standing on the docking ramp for the tram itself, but was wide enough to prevent her getting trapped.

Lawson showed some of her hand at once. The Cerberus operative spun on her heel without delay, weapon raised to the shoulder, the movement in her peripheral vision being enough to warn her of a threat. She sent a burst directly in front of Jack, having misjudged the speed she was travelling at only slightly. The bullets tore holes in the track ahead, in a tight clean group that stuck in the mind because of how easily it could have been in flesh instead.

The next burst sure to find its mark, Jack pirouetted away onto the portside walkway with the assistance of her biotics. She stopped behind a support pillar, trying to figure out her next move as the shots continued to pour out, attempting to suppress her. Although she was immune to such a tactic because of her powerful barriers. The bitch was making a point. Time to change tactics. After a few seconds, the shooting stopped, allowing her to step around the support again. As she expected, the shooting did not resume immediately.

Lawson still held her weapon at the ready, but slightly lowered. A look of pure focus on her face, rather than enjoyment, rage or exertion. Cold eyes. It made Jack wonder if this woman had any emotions at all.

"You're not bad!" Jack called cheekily, approaching at a walk with her pistols aimed at the floor, "But not good enough."

"You must think me an imbecile to fall for that old bait and switch," Lawson replied, her aim steady, "Subject Zero."

The hated name that robbed her of everything. Just hearing it made the blood of 'Subject Zero' boil.

" _My name_ is Jennifer Haider," Jack smiled viciously, fangs out, "Jack to my family."

She waved her pistol around in the air. "And I'm going to teach you that with this."

Lawson kept her cool. "I'm sure you'll try," she said, "But coming any closer is a colossal mistake. Turn around and go back to your shuttle."

Jack ignored the command. There was no way she wasn't going to bend this bitch in half now. "The girl in the fucking _swimsuit_ gives me an order and I'm supposed to take it seriously?"

The icy bitch actually found that amusing, the corners of her lips twitching ever so slightly upwards. "You don't exactly wear much yourself," said Lawson, eyes sweeping up and down, "But you have as much social grace and intellect as a wrecking ball. You wouldn't understand who I am, what I am capable of. Nor do I need you to understand."

Another few steps, Jack thought, and she won't be able to stop my charge. The wrecking ball was about to swing.

"I'm sure I get exactly what you do with those tits," Jack laughed, edging ever closer, "I'm sure you wrap plenty of dumbasses around your little finger with them. But that outfit won't save you from me."

Lawson's face contorted into a smile, an I-know-something-you-don't smile. "Won't it?" she said.

A tiny bolt of doubt shot up Jack's spine, and she hesitated for just a second. A second too long. A moment to slap the side of her wrist was all the Cerberus operative needed. Glowing orange plates began flashforging around Lawson's body, hovering in place with micro mass effect fields, covering her from head to toe in ablative tech armour.

Jack sighed, wishing she had something similar. Wishing she had charged a moment before. This shit was definitely going to prolong things.

"So that's how it's going to be," said Jack, nodding, "Okay then, cheerleader."

She unleashed the biotic charge, wreathing herself in dark energy and bursting forwards straight at Lawson, purple light swirling. The cheerleader got a barrier up just in time, the bubble surrounding her for maybe only a few milliseconds before it burst under the impact. The Cerberus operative let out a groan with the effort, but moved back to use her weapon more effectively.

Sensing she had the initiative, Jack bounced forwards on her feet and raised her pistols to shoot point-blank, triumph filling her as she could almost taste the kill. A section of Lawson's armour exploded outwards in retaliation, sending shards of hot hardened omnigel straight at her. She deflected most of it with the remains of the unstable energy left over from the charge she had made. There was too little warning to deflect everything, and she shouted a curse as a three or four shards glanced off her side, drawing blood. Flesh wounds, but annoying ones.

Lawson retreated along the portside walkway, using her biotics to carry her while firing her rifle at Jack, heading towards the end of the passage and the entrance to the CIC.

Jack gave chase along the starboard, her barriers returned to full strength and her pistols giving as good as she was getting. But it wasn't good enough. The rage was building in her, more and more with each missed or deflected shot. It tasted like blood in her mouth, and she wanted release.

She holstered her pistols and took again to the charge, soaring over the central tramway. Lawson brought her rifle up instinctly to shield herself, betraying that she wasn't sure that her barriers would hold after the first charge hadn't been stopped. Jack's biotically enhanced fist broke the rifle in two and sent the operative sprawling backwards. A small victory, as the cheerleader's training took hold and she rolled onto her feet at the end of the movement, but it was enough.

Jack pressed on, sending a shockwave rippling after Lawson, who was now in retreating at full sprint. The unstable gravitational fields shredded the walkway, the railing, the walls and even the lights, sending bright sparks of electricity bursting out into the air. But the cheerleader jumped away, a biotic flare sending her up onto the tramway. It was hard to keep up with her.

"That's right, run!" Jack roared, "Run, but know you can't hide!" She waved her fists, and sent a flurry of warp bolts at the fleeing form. Lawson stopped and raised her arms, as if she had eyes on the back of her head, and raised another powerful barrier bubble around herself. The bolts thudded into it, harmlessly, and she resumed her sprint like she had never stopped.

"What the fuck!" Jack said, having never seen such a thing in her life before. The cheerleader's biotics were not on her level, but she seemed faster in every imaginable way than any other human she had met. With the possible exception of the first human Spectre. Most human biotics would have already been tired after fighting her this long at this intensity. Lawson betrayed no sign of fatigue. If anything, she seemed more energetic than before.

The doors of the CIC bloc opened, and Jack watched the cheerleader's toned ass disappear into it. She rushed with all her might to make it through them before they closed. But they were designed to snap closed against loss of life support, to trap air inside the CIC. Too fast, even for her. Her biotic charge collided with the thick, reinforced metal with a crack, fracturing it in places but not enough to open easily.

Letting a gurgle of frustration escape her throat, Jack gave the door a kick. Lawson was trapped, that much was clear, but now she'd need help. The cheerleader wouldn't be alone in there, and she gave up taking absolutely crazy risks on a promise. She activated her comms.

"This is Lieutenant Haider," said Jack, "I'm outside the doors of the CIC in the central passage. Lawson escaped inside, I need backup."

For a moment, there was nothing but static. To her surprise, it was Anderson who replied, not Taylor.

"Cerberus are retreating," the Rear-Admiral said, "We'll be at your position in two."

Jack blew out a breath, wondering what the hell that meant. Cerberus retreating? They must have had a way out of this. A way out of being chased on their own ship, surrounded by an entire Alliance fleet including a flotilla of stealth frigates, in a system without a mass relay. She would have doubted anyone could have gotten out of this situation, but if Cerberus were running, it was absolutely certain it was in the direction of a way out.

Anderson showed up without Taylor, in the company of two JANUS troopers. Both of which had blood smears on their armours, discernible only from the change in navy blue to pitch black.

The Admiral looked at the door she was standing beside and whistled. "They weren't kidding when they talked about your biotic power," he said, as he ran an armoured finger over one of the cracks she had made.

"I can get through it," she said, "But I can't defend myself while breaking it."

"Understood," Anderson said. He waved the troops forward, and they covered the doorway. When they had all found their place, he nodded at her to begin.

Jack sucked in a breath, raised her arms to summon her powers... and jumped back as the doors rumbled open slowly with a sudden screech. The damage done to them was severe enough that they only opened half way. It was enough for Lawson to step through. Unarmed, without her tech armour plates floating around her body, and with no biotic energy called forth. She wasn't even sweating from the fight mere minutes earlier.

In her joy at finding her enemy once again, Jack grabbed for her pistols and brought them up to shoot. Another JANUS trooper had done the same, and they all awaited the command. They all knew who this was, or enough about her to want to open fire.

"Admiral Anderson," Lawson said, not sparing Jack a glance, "The Illusive Man is waiting. If you'll come this way?" She turned around and went back through the doorway.

Jack's mouth dropped open at the bitch's audacity. As if she was going to fall for that one. She flew forwards, and burst through after the cheerleader, landing just beyond. She heard the others come in behind her, weapons raised. The expected firefight did not materialise.

The CIC was darkened for combat operations, but from the glowing red on many of the screens, it didn't look like combat was going to happen. Too much damage had already been done. The crew remained seated, but raised their hands.

"Hold your fire," said Anderson as he came up beside her, "Let's see where this goes."

Jack grit her teeth, and lowered the pistols in her hands, but kept them there.

"This way," said Lawson, her face kept carefully neutral except for the amusement Jack imagined dancing in her eyes, "You two alone."

There were times that the chain of command felt like it was wrapped around her neck like a leash, and this was one of those times. Jack went along nonetheless, following behind Anderson and watching for any excuse that might allow her to be let loose. Rather than battering Lawson to death. Unfortunately, no Cerberus soldiers showed themselves and other Alliance teams began showing up in the doorways, their opposition having withdrawn and dumped arms, presumably.

The cheerleader brought Anderson to a room just off of the CIC towards the bow. A comms room.

The door opened, and in the dark stood a glowing holographic figure of a man sitting in a chair. He was pretty but middle aged. Dressed in the most expensive looking suit that Jack had ever seen, black and silver silk with gold cufflinks. He was smoking a cigarette. His eyes were fully enhanced artificial replacements, designed for maximum visual capability rather than being a mimic of the real thing. This alone made him creepy as hell, completely at odds with the luxury of his clothing.

It was the Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus.

And Jack couldn't do a thing to hurt him. He was somewhere else. She deflated, her hopes for revenge and answers draining out of her, like blood through a deep wound. She rubbed her face and listened, unable to do anything else.

"So, you're not on the ship," said Anderson, disappointed, "I had hoped to take you alive today."

"You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" said the Illusive Man.

"Yes, I did," Anderson said sharply, "Our intelligence clearly indicated that orders were being issued from this ship, and reports for you were being sent here too. We detected no traffic that would indicate you were merely using it as a relay, and as far as we know, you do not possess QECs yet."

"Not many QECs," Lawson clarified, "I'm afraid that General Haider's security measures on Mars have prevented us from simply taking the technology, but we've managed to extrapolate the principles and build our own design."

Jack felt a surge of pride that Mama Haider had prevented Cerberus from getting something, even though they managed to get it through other methods anyway.

"The ship is still mine," Anderson pointed out, "As is Miss Lawson and the rest of the crew. We'll find you soon enough."

"Perhaps, but is now really the time to be engaging in a pointless dispute?" the Illusive Man said, tapping the ashes of his cigarette into an ashtray in the arm of his chair, "Alien pirates are attacking Cerberus' own holdings and they are planning to attack the Alliance's Traverse colonies. Someone is paying them to do so, and neither of us know who. And the Reapers are still coming."

"We did help you at Tikkun, Admiral," said Lawson, "We helped you liberate Rannoch and finally defeat the geth. Did that assistance mean nothing to the Alliance?"

"It doesn't change the fact that the Alliance is the sole legitimate government of humanity," Anderson said, "I am grateful for your help, but that was a year and a half ago. You want to help us? Restore your colonies and fleets to the rightful government on Earth. Unite humanity under one banner, and we'll face the pirates, their backers and the Reapers together. I'm sure I can sell pardons for you and your top people to Parliament if you delivered that, even in the face of protests from the other Council races."

Jack, enraged that a pardon could even be a possibility, opened her mouth to object. But her rage made her slow to choose her words.

"It's a tempting offer, Admiral," said the Illusive Man, "But you know why we must decline. Aside from the mistrust our own colonists have for the member states of the Alliance, which is considerable, Cerberus will never submit humanity to a position of inferiority. Not to mention we would never ally ourselves with a batarian government regardless of its form."

"We are on the Council now, we aren't inferiors, not any longer! " Anderson snapped, "And we beat the batarians and took their homeworld! Simply occupying it would be a waste of troops and ships we need against the Reapers. Better to have a friendly government on Khar'shan than punish the batarians."

"I had no hopes of being able to convince you, Admiral," said the Illusive Man, "Not with argument."

Jack finally had enough. The yammering was going nowhere.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Jack shouted, "Here's what's going to happen! We're taking your ship, your crew, your fucking cheerleader here, and we're going to find you. And then, I'm going to kill you, slowly, for all the shit and hurt you've caused over the years. And if I can do it with a camera nearby so everyone in the galaxy can see, I'll die with a big fucking smile on my face the next minute! You're done, you hear? We've beaten you."

"You have taken one ship. We have others. Nor are you going to take this ship, my crew or Operative Lawson," the Illusive Man said, "Not only because you are not the one who makes the decisions here, Subject Zero, but because I have something even you will want."

"And what is that?" said Anderson, "Only thing I can think of worth that much would be the location of the Reapers in dark space."

Jack snorted. She didn't give a shit about that piece of information, so clearly it wasn't that. Anderson caught the noise, and grimaced, realising his mistake. He shot an apologetic look at her, which made her feel a little guilty. The old man was alright, after all.

The Illusive Man took a long drag on his cigarette, and took an equally long time to breath out the smoke, through both his mouth and his nose. Jack clenched her fists so hard, she hurt herself. The dramatic pauses and the fancy talk were on the verge of driving her mad.

"Shepard is alive," he said at last, looking at the floor, "And we know where she is."

Icy cold poured down Jack's neck, soothing her anger and replacing it with pure astonishment. The Commander. The Angel of Death that had reaped her way through geth and krogan in front of Jack's own eyes, alive?

"She's alive?!" Anderson asked desperately, "And you have her?!"

The Illusive Man looked up at the Admiral. "She never died, Admiral," he said, "I'm surprised you aren't asking if we were the ones who attacked her on the Citadel, That would be the logical conclusion, according to some."

"We all know she sympathised with you, to some degree," Anderson said, "Despite T'soni and your murder of Admiral Kohaku."

"Your predecessor's death was at the hands of Kai Leng," said Lawson, condescendingly, "I delivered him to Shepard myself for the trouble. And an asari lover is no reason to kill humanity's greatest soldier. Shepard does not place herself in a position of inferiority to anyone."

"Regardless, the answer to your question is no," said the Illusive Man, "We do not have her."

Jack detected a lie, or a half-truth. "But you did have her," she growled, "Didn't you?" How else could they know she didn't die? From what Mama had said, Shepard had to have been torn half to pieces by gunfire by the time she was taken.

The Illusive Man's head turned towards Lawson, and he nodded.

"We rescued her from the agents of the Shadow Broker on Omega, before delivery to whoever hired them," the operative confirmed, "But her body was too heavily damaged. She was not dead, but she would have died in seconds had we removed her from stasis when we retrieved her. I led the team to repair her organs... as well as give her some enhancements, with the hope of making her combat ready in time for the Reapers' return. She regained consciousness a month ago, but was still too injured to be walking around. We kept her sedated and made incredible progress beyond that point. Unfortunately, two weeks later, the chief medical officer betrayed us to the Shadow Broker and the facility she was being held in was attacked. I barely escaped with my life, and Shepard was taken."

A sob story to cover for being stupid, Jack thought. "You need better security," she said, "I've seen some the Broker's people. Apart from Urdnot Wrex, all of them were all pushovers."

"Our own mechs were hacked and killed most of our people as they slept," Lawson retorted, "I killed the man responsible, a Doctor Wilson, but not before the Blue Suns were swarming all over the station led by a senior salarian operative of the Broker."

"If the Broker has her, how do you know where she is?" Anderson asked.

"We have our own mole, on board his ship," said the Illusive Man, "We don't know where it is and neither does the mole. The Broker has to send a shuttle to pick up his agents, he doesn't trust any of them with the coordinates. But the mole recently gained access."

"And he's breaking Shepard out as we speak," said Lawson, "To a location only we know."

"So you see, Admiral," the Illusive Man added, "Either you release our ship and crew, or it will be Cerberus alone who meets Shepard for the first time in almost two years. I'm sure explaining that the batarians she loathes from the bottom of her heart are now friends of the Systems Alliance will make her waver in her loyalty to your cause. Backing down from the pirates in the Terminus and letting them attack human colonies, even Cerberus ones, without any retaliation, that is not something I envisage Shepard reacting favourably to either. I would not be surprised if she joins us in response."

He took another drag on his cigarette, finishing it off and stabbing it into the ashtray.

"In fact, I'm counting on it."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_

 _The next chapter will be from the perspective of 'The Angel of Death'!_

* * *

22nd Century Timeline:

 **Pre-War**

 **2103** :

The European Union founds Lowell City near the Martian South Pole, the first permanent human settlement on Mars. The achievement is feted as a triumph of European engineering, and threatens to trigger a space race between the European Union-African Union bloc and the massive Pan-Asian Coalition. The US plans further afield, investigating Jupiter's moon "Europa" for possible colonisation.

 **2105** :

Arctic and Antarctic summer ice begins a stunning reversal of 21st Century norms, extending to the Eurasian and Canadian mainlands for the first time in fifty years. The discovery and development of fusion technology is celebrated as having finally undone the climatic damage done during the 20th and 21st centuries.

 **2100s** :

Technological progress in all areas continues at pace, with anti-gravity technology based on controlled air pockets and plasma weaponry being developed in the Pan-Asian Coalition. US espionage places most of the advances in the hands of the Western powers.

 **2112** :

The winter of this year is particularly harsh. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea freeze. Huge glacial flows stretch far into Russia, China, Korea and Japan. Canada nearly disappears under the ice, but its major urban centres are untouched. Populations further north than Moscow are displaced southwards for a number of years.

First anti-gravity aerial assault craft, or Titan, is launched by the PAC, soon followed by European and American projects.

 **2119** :

The first year of permanent glacial flows. Emergency session of the United Nations hears evidence that the Earth is entering a new Ice Age. Evidence points to variance in solar output as cause. Treaties of mutual assistance are signed.

 **2123** :

Pan-Asian Coalition begins to feel the effects of population movement and loss of huge amounts of agricultural land and resources. Unrest begins, measures put in place to insure order, elections permanently suspended. European Union and United States condemn the Pan-Asian Coalition, but refrains from economic sanctions due to fragility of global economy.

The European Union and Union of African States sign formal military and economic alliance treaty.

 **2120s** :

Ice continues to extend further southward each year. Huge areas of Russia and Canada permanently under ice by decade's end.

Space colonisation efforts by the PAC cease as resources are strained, but existing settlements on Mars are maintained.

Assault walkers are field tested.

 **2134** :

Titan deployments for humanitarian purposes save millions from starvation in the PAC, but the government of that state foresees mass starvation and economic ruin by the middle of the century without a change in circumstance. PAC begins mass military build-up along border. Europe and Africa respond in kind, concentrating their forces along the Mediterranean. The US increases its defence budget in response, leading to the same from South America and Australia.

Europe builds the three defensive lines in Northern Europe: Minsk, Brandenburg and Maginot.

Steven Hackett is born in Buenos Aires, in the South American Federation.

 **2137:**

The last real effort to come to a diplomatic solution for resource distribution between the PAC and EU fails. The attempted US-brokered peace would have seen PAC military technology and resource wealth traded for food and energy technology. Both parties continue diplomatic talks beyond this point, but both use it to stall in order to complete their war preparations.

The Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 extraction from Saturn, causing a severe drop in the American stock market as helium-3 extraction from Luna is put under threat. Luna is an exclusively American holding at this time. The United States falls into a state of civil unrest as its economy is already badly affected by the climatic changes, precluding involvement in the Eurasian Crisis.

David Anderson is born in London, European Union.

 **The Cold War**

 **2139:**

With coordinated offensives from the Baltic to Africa, the Pan-Asian Coalition declares war on the European Union with the objective of capturing its resources and land.

The Union of African States honours its alliance with the EU and joins the fight. The PAC first strikes prioritise Africa in a conventional assault, drawing away many regular units of the European Army.

The United States' economy begins to recover quickly as European firms and government contracts pour into the country to fill war logistics demands, allowing Washington the time to solve some of its internal problems.

Kahlee Sanders is born in the Texan Megapolis, United States of America.

 **November 2139: Minsk**

Operation Canute: Three battalions led by General Arkadi Petrov attack Minsk, the EU's command centre for the Minsk Defensive Line. First deployment of the militarised Titan in live combat operations, changing the nature of human warfare forever. Defence and destruction of titans becomes basis for military strategy during the war.

 **2140: Breaking the European Lines**

PAC offensives concentrate on the Balkans primarily, as the region has yet to feel the full brunt of the new ice age. PAC divisions trap EU forces in the region in Belgrade in February. Despite a spirited defence by the EU 9th Armoured Corps lead by General Emil Nikoli, Belgrade falls in March.

The PAC attacks the Brandenburg Line in force. By July, PAC gunships have air superiority over the battlefield, and PAC Titans drop entire regiments behind Berlin. In August, the PAC offensive against Berlin begins, and the city falls two months later. Remaining EU forces retreat to France to make a stand while populations and industrial base is evacuated to Africa.

 **2141: Verdun & America**

The PAC control much of Europe, but the ice advanced to its furthest point recorded, rendering almost all of the land useless. The Mediterranean remains firmly in EU hands.

The next PAC offensive quickly bogs down at the Maginot line at Verdun. Caught between huge iceflows and the European defences, the PAC walkers and tanks found the attack impossible to sustain. EU tank formations using the less-sophisticated but reliable A-8 Tiger were well able to match the Nekomata hovertanks fielded by the PAC. The EU uses infiltration tactics to destroy PAC titans.

The South American Federation, seeing the other major powers distracted by war, declares its own war on Mexico. Mexican forces defend their borders valiantly, and contrary to the hopes of the SAF, the United States declares war immediately, unable to tolerate the possibility of another world power directly on its doorstep. US Titans deploy to the front, against which the SAF deploys anti-Titan missiles.

By the end of 2141, the PAC copies European anti-titan tactics and Verdun falls, but the EU's strategic objective has been achieved; populations and industry have been moved to Africa. The US and Mexico holds off the SAF, but can make no progress to halt the enemy as their military had not been at high readiness when war broke out.

 **2142: The Fall of Europe & The Venezuela Offensive**

With Verdun in PAC hands, the offensive swept through France and into Spain.

Cerbere in southern France stands as a stronghold temporarily until the intervention of PAC General Yuri Vladormirovic. Commando units using advanced optical camouflage technology breach the port's defences, but the EU leaves its crack infantry unit, the Hell Brigade, behind to defend the port. The Cerbere Landing establishes itself as the most costly battle of the Cold War.

US Titan forces attack Venezuela en masse, taking heavy casualties but successfully establishing a beachhead. The region is one of the SAF's industrial centres, and they retaliate with a general offensive on all fronts to draw away the Americans from the sector by the year's end.

The assault on Africa begins soon after with the PAC attacking Camp Gibraltar in Morocco. In May, the PAC strikes at the Suez Canal with large scale Titan forces. The EU responds in kind with their own Titan forces, and a campaign of attrition begins. Raids on Tunis and elsewhere fail to stop European and African reinforcements.

 **2143:**

Mass migrations, diminishing food supplies and extremely insufficient energy generation ravage the PAC's population. With the political situation becoming increasingly desperate, PAC military forces turn their attention to the EU agricultural city project at Shuhia Tabia. Both sides deploy a dozen Titans, and the fighting over the city lasts a year, after which only two Titans are left. The region will become known as the Titan graveyard.

A similar offensive to capture the huge energy plants at Sidi fails after only two months, as PAC Titans divert to capture Shuhia Tabia or are reserved for logistics roles.

The US are repelled from Venezuela, but not before destroying the facilities there, including the SAF's Titan project factories. Furthermore, a joint US-Mexican offensive takes Panama and the path into Columbia. The entire north of the SAF is under threat.

On Mars, the European Union manages to land specialised military equipment, and attempts to bombard PAC settlements from space without success. The colonists in Lowell City begin training, and the first military unit founded on an offworld colony is raised: the European 1st Martian Armoured Regiment. Given the huge distances and harsh terrain, the government is reluctant to use its military forces aggressively until the right moment.

 **2144:** **Stalemate and Prothean Ruins**

The EU repulses the PAC from Africa, and launches limited offensives eastwards from its holdings. A successful raid on a Titan facility in Karkand leaves PAC Titan production crippled. The Europeans prepare to take back their homeland.

US and Mexican forces sweep into Columbia, Peru and Chile as the Titans lead the way. The success of the attack draws the attention of Brazil, which intervenes in order to preserve the balance of power that has reigned in the Western hemisphere for nearly a century. Brazilian reinforcements push US forces back from Chile and Peru, and the first and only Titan battle between the US and Brazil occurs over Lima in September. The Brazilians copy EU and PAC tactics, using missiles to overwhelm the defences of the enemy titans and then infiltrating them to destroy their reactor cores.

The European Union orders its Martian colonies to use its newly raised military force to finally attack PAC settlements on Mars. The Martian 1st Armoured leaves Lowell City on the months-long journey to Vladivostok-on-Mars. The armoured column runs into something entirely unexpected after a modified rover falls into a large pit.

Inside the pit are the ruins of an alien outpost, complete with a cache of technology and a new material: element zero. The offensive against the PAC colonies is called off as the scientists in Lowell City examine the technology and information. News of the discovery is suppressed.

 **2145: Endgame**

After half a year of examination of the alien technologies found on Mars, the European Union discovers the mass effect. As its first act, it integrates the new technology with existing orbital military satellite strike capabilities.

The planned counteroffensive to retake Europe from the PAC proceeds at a blistering pace. PAC titans and anti-titan missile installations are subjected to orbital bombardment and are annihilated. EU Titan forces are able to range at will and without contest, and PAC forces are swept back. By the summer of 2145, the EU has restored the pre-war borders.

The PAC refuses to surrender, and the EU retaliates with an all out invasion of its own. They quickly capture vast swathes of territory in Asia. The PAC response is to turn to its nuclear arsenal, which has gone unused until this point out of fear of damaging valuable productive land and further lowering the global temperature. European anti-ballistic missile systems shoot the nuclear strike down before the aging missiles can reach their targets.

The European Union responds to the attempted genocide with targeted orbital kinetic strikes on major PAC government facilities. The PAC collapses into a state of anarchy, and the rump government finally gives in. It surrenders unconditionally on November 11th 2145.

The next day, the EU declares war on the SAF and Brazil, and targets Brazil's titan forces from orbit, forcing the South American allies to the negotiating table with the US and Mexico. The cost of peace is war reparations to Mexico and a demilitarised zone in Central America, as well as the resignations of all those who voted in favour of war.

 **Victory to First Contact**

 **2146:**

The European Union formally annexes the majority of the Pan-Asian Coalition, setting up client governments in Japan and Korea. This causes it to become the single largest state in the history of humanity. The population of the former territory of the PAC has dropped significantly due to mass migrations to other states as well as starvation and combat losses. Millions of displaced Europeans are resettled. Surviving PAC citizens are granted citizenship of the EU and receive generous subsidies. Those responsible for the start of the war are hunted down and tried for crimes against humanity.

Earth's economy begins to recover.

The advance of the arctic ice halts at last and recedes slightly.

 **2148:**

The European Space Agency ship _Ariane_ makes the first manned FTL flight between Mars and Luna. The ESA begins a worldwide recruitment campaign for the best pilots and astronauts.

The United States demands full payment of the massive European war debt, hoping to gain FTL technology. The European Union refuses, stating that it would pay its debts as agreed previously and that its new technologies were not for sale. The US begins serious diplomatic efforts to rally the rest of the world against Europe for its position, calling the hoarding of the technology to be selfish and without regard for the cause of humanity.

The European Union accepts Canada as a member state, allowing millions of Canadian refugees to enter Europe as citizens from the massive refugee camps in the United States.

 **2149:**

The secret of European advances in technology is leaked, and the human race learns that it is not the sole sentient species in the universe. Demands from other worlds powers to share the technology gleaned from the Prothean Archives on Mars are met with military brinkmanship from the EU.

Production of mass effect technologies explodes, with everything from small-arms to spaceships being constructed by European state-firms. Petitions to open the technology to private firms are shot down in the European Parliament, which wishes to insure European military superiority before allowing civilian applications.

The Charon Mass Relay is discovered. The American test-pilot Jon Grissom is the first man to leave the Sol System, travelling by mass relay to the Arcturus system on board the European Space Agency ship _Ragnarok_.

 **2150:**

The European Union gives in to massive international pressure from friends and rivals alike, and forms the Systems Alliance, a political and military compact for the exploitation of space by humanity. As the largest polity on Earth, the EU dominates the alliance along with the US. Two military wings are formed, the Navy made up of the European fleets under unified political control, and the Army, made up of modernised military forces from all member nations.

Arctic ice recedes partially, releasing parts of Canada, Britain, Ireland and Europe from the glaciers. Mass effect technology is released to the private sector, leading to a boom period of population growth and economic development.

The Systems Alliance begins its first surveys of other systems for habitable planets. Demeter and Eden Prime are among the first to be discovered.

Miranda Lawson is born in Werrington Downs, Australia.

 **2151:**

The Systems Alliance accelerates the original European fleet construction programme in anticipation of first contact with extraterrestrials, as well as for the colonisation of space. Ships of all classes as well as orbital-deployed Titans and assault walkers are built en masse. US, African and EU armies are equipped with mass accelerator weapons for the first time.

The first colonisation congress is held in the Palace of Versailles. The European Union cedes the entirety of its rights to the colonisation of Terra Nova to the Union of African States, in compensation of its contributions during the Cold War.

An airport accident in Singapore leads to mass exposures to element zero in dust form.

Kaiden Alenko is born in Singapore, EU-Administered Malaya.

 **2154:**

Jane Shepard is born in Lorient, European Union, to Hannah Shepard, a Canadian cadet of the Systems Alliance Navy.

 **2155:**

Jeff Moreau is born on Arcturus Station, the new forward naval base of the Systems Alliance.

The ten year anniversary of the end of the Cold War is held, with massive parades in Paris, Mexico City, Cape Town and Washington.

 **2157:**

The First, Second and Third Fleets of the Systems Alliance are declared formally ready for combat operations. Exercises in space with the various new weapons designs are ordered as exploration continues at a rapid pace.

Jacob Taylor is born in New York State, the United States of America.

 **2157: FIRST CONTACT WAR**

 _The Relay 314 Incident:_

A scouting expedition from Shanxi colony attempting to open a mass relay is attacked by a turian force and destroyed. A single exploration vessel returns to Shanxi, which sends out a retaliatory flotilla. The flotilla destroys much of the alien fleet in turn, and the situation escalates. The Systems Alliance, unsure if they're fighting Protheans or some other alien species, they rally the military-grade ships at Arcturus and prepare for total war.

The turians, still looking to police the newly discovered species, rally a fleet and destroy several Alliance scout flotillas before heading to Shanxi itself.

 _The Occupation of Shanxi:_

Despite all attempts to stop them, the turians successfully made it to orbit around Shanxi with little effort. They laid siege to the colony, but not before word of the attack was sent to Arcturus. The turians bombarded the Alliance strongpoints from orbit, and then started bombarding food storage facilities and utilities. Guerrilla warfare was used to slow down the turian ground troops with some success, but with civilians dying daily and food running low, General Williams called for a surrender. The colony's own defence forces and the accompanying civilians complied.

The United States Colonial Marine Expeditionary Force under Colonel Edward Ryan, a small group of US troops on a tour of colonies with the Alliance, refused the order to surrender. The turians hunted them to Xi'an Valley, where they made a last stand. With the American forces gone and the colony surrendered, the turians occupied the planet and settled in to defend it, assuming that they had destroyed the bulk of the Alliance fleet.

 _Outrage:_

Word of the surrender and the massacre of the US CMEF got back to Arcturus just as a fierce political argument was breaking out between the constituent states of the Alliance. Shanxi was a European-backed colony made up largely of former PAC citizens, so the European Union wished to counterattack immediately. However, every other member of the alliance disagreed, refusing to sign off on the huge spaceborne counterattack already being organised by the Europeans. They still did not know who exactly they were fighting and why.

The why became irrelevant as soon as word of the surrender arrived. The United States, who had led the calls for diplomacy, immediately turned on its position. Not aware that their marines had refused to surrender, the Americans assumed that there had been a horrific massacre of surrendering soldiers. The occupation soon outraged all parties, and it was agreed that the counterattack should go ahead as planned.

 _Retaliation:_

A month after the occupation began, the Systems Alliance Second Fleet under Admiral Drescher jumped into the system and annihilated the turian fleet guarding the colony. The turians were taken aback by a number of human innovations in space combat technology and tactics, and were outnumbered at any rate. The surviving ships limped back through the Shanxi-Theta relay.

With the turian ships shredded, it was the turn of the army. Titans and shuttles were dropped from orbit, surrounding the colony proper with the soldiers of Europe's Hell Brigade and the American Rangers. L5 Riesig assault walkers, now upgraded with kinetic barriers, blasted the turian occupiers to pieces. The aliens' anti-armour weapons were of little help as the active defences on the human armoured units detonated the munitions before they even hit the barriers. The turians soon adapted, using heavy machineguns to wear down the humans' primitive barriers, but they were simply outnumbered by metal behemoths.

The Alliance retreated, having demonstrated their strength and not wishing to risk the civilians' lives. Titans brought down reinforcements from orbit, and the turians were offered the opportunity to surrender. The aliens surrendered, and the human race saw the face of their aggressor for the first time.

 _The Council intervenes:_

With Earth and her colonies now gearing up towards total war against an alien aggressor, and the Turian Hierarchy moving real assets towards crushing the human race, the Citadel Council intervened a month after Shanxi. Humanity learns that the galaxy is in fact inhabited by many species, many of whom possess mass effect technology, and most of whom organise their political and economic life via the Council. A ceasefire is negotiated between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, with the turians accepting responsibility for the war.

 **After First Contact  
2157: **

A manifesto for a pro-human group is published, calling for a Cerberus to defend humanity from the alien threats at its doorstep, in the midst of a proliferation of "pro-human" political grouplets and parties. The Systems Alliance dismisses the manifesto as nonsensical.

 **2158:**

Ashley Williams is born on the American colony Sirona, in the 61 Ursae Majoris system.

 **2160:**

The Systems Alliance Parliament is formed, consisting of a Council of States to represent the original powers and their designated colonies, and a Senate to represent the people directly.

Kasumi Goto is born at an unknown location.

 **2161** :

Jennifer Haider, also known as "Jack", is born on the European colony of Eden Prime.

 **2165:**

The Systems Alliance gains an official embassy on the Citadel, and humanity gains full unrestricted access to the galactic economy.

The Batarian Hegemony begins to compete with the Alliance for colonies in the Skyllian Verge. The Alliance slowly prepares for war as the batarians' culture of slavery and aggressive stance leave little doubt in minds on Earth that conflict with the aliens is inevitable.

Official founding of the Alliance Army, and institution of the legion system. Each numbered legion is composed of up to six million soldiers and service personnel from an Alliance member state or group of states, and is tasked to hold a cluster, a world or a continent of a heavily populated world.

 **2170:**

The Alliance colony of Mindoir is attacked by Batarian slavers, who seize many citizens and kill many more, starting the First Verge War.

With a potential military coup brewing if no retaliatory action is taken, the Alliance Parliament appeals to the Citadel Council to intervene for the return of the kidnapped colonists. The Council refuses to intervene, so the Alliance Parliament authorises escalating military strikes against the Hegemony until the colonists are repatriated. Alliance Army Titans and armoured forces are dropped onto several batarian colonies in the Verge, and battles fought with the batarian navy.

Alliance use of nuclear weapons on three minor batarian colonies forces the Council's hand, who impose a ceasefire, trading off the kidnapped citizens for compensation to victims of the nuclear attacks. Not all of the kidnapped are returned however, and outrage at their treatment as slaves leads to an expansion of the Systems Alliance Army and Navy.

The A-61 Mantis, developed to replace the old Cold War era UD-8 Talon for new technologies, is flown for the first time.

 **2171:**

The Batarian Hegemony asks the Citadel Council to limit human expansion in the Skyllian Verge. They are refused, and withdraw from diplomatic relations with the Citadel, becoming a rogue state. The Systems Alliance reacts by a full assault on various mercenary groups in the Verge, pushing them out of the region and into the Terminus Systems.

Worst winter on Earth in a decade, thousands displaced from their homes. Glaciers advance for the first time in seven years.

 **2173:**

Out of frustration with the Citadel Council and their tolerance of criminal activities, the Systems Alliance seeks to spread its influence. It successfully signs a treaty with the Quarian Migrant Fleet for technical cooperation in return for a number of visa considerations to quarians on pilgrimage as well as various diplomatic concessions and ship deals.

 **2176:**

Batarian-funded pirates attack the colony of Elysium, but the assault is repulsed with contemptuous ease by the V Legion of the Alliance Army and several fleets of the Alliance Navy. The Second Verge War begins.

In retaliation, the Alliance sends six legions to the joint batarian-human colony of Anhur, crushes the slavers there and seizes the world, expelling the batarians en masse to Terminus space.

 **2177:**

Slaver activity in the Verge continues, and the Alliance is lead on a wild goose chase to find their stronghold.

Fighting in the Yuki Cluster. An Alliance Army column on Akuze is attacked by Thresher Maws, the first time humans encounter the beasts. The assault walkers suffer heavy casualties, but are able to use the mass effect generators and heavy weapons on their armour to good effect. Several specimens are taken to the biolabs on Arcturus for examination.

 **2178:**

The Alliance discovers the main staging base of the batarian slavers on the moon of Torfan, as well as several safe ports the pirates use thanks to their trajectories upon fleeing from the Alliance fleet sent to destroy them.

On the direction of an Navy N7 reconnaissance team lead by Lieutenant Jane Shepard, the XIII Legion of the Alliance Army brutally crushed all resistance by the batarians at the expense of many lives. The majority of the N7 team perished while clearing the dropzones for the Army and in the subsequent close quarters fighting. Shepard receives a promotion to Commander, and is assigned to the SSV Tokyo under Captain Anderson. The non-human media nickname her "The Butcher of Torfan", whereas the human media prefers "The Angel of Death".

Unable to conquer Khar'shan, the Alliance Navy begins a bold operation to destroy the batarians' capability to fight. The Battle of the Kite's Nest begins at the end of the year, a series of naval engagements within the core of batarian space that destroys the Hegemony's capability to fight. The victory forces the batarians to the negotiating table. A humiliating but fair peace treaty is signed on the Citadel, ending the Second Verge War in total victory for humankind.

 **2178-2182:**

With the Alliance pulling its weight for the preservation of galactic civilisation, and the Terminus Systems crawling with potential threats to peace, the Turian Hierarchy decides to involve itself in a joint construction project with humanity for the creation of a new class of stealth frigate. The first of the completed vessels is the _SSV Normandy._ Fleet modernisation and innovations continue across all classes of ship.

 **2183:**

The Eden Prime War begins after a geth attack on that world in January. The Alliance's Black Forest Protocol is immediately triggered, and the Alliance Navy and Army both respond to the attack. The traitor Spectre Saren successfully escapes on board the Reaper dreadnought Sovereign, with knowledge from a Prothean beacon. N7 Commander Jane Shepard also succeeds in gaining the knowledge. She is assigned to hunt Saren down, and is given command of the _SSV Normandy_ to complete the task.

The first fleet engagement between the Alliance and the Geth Collective occurs over Therum, as the geth attempt to abscond with Prothean expert Dr. Liara T'soni. Elements of the Fifth Fleet's Carrier Group Nine face down a geth dropship flotilla escorted by a heavy cruiser. The engagement is a victory for the Alliance, as Commander Shepard rescues T'soni and the Fifth Fleet inflicts heavy losses on the outnumbered and outgunned geth. The Commander is elevated to the rank of Council Spectre for her role on the ground.

Geth launch offensive across the Traverse border, dropping troops off on any colony they can reach to undertake terror attacks on the civilian population. Eden Prime, Terra Nova, Noveria, and Feros see further combat with the geth, as well as more than half a dozen others. On Noveria, the fighting results in the accidental release of a cloned rachni queen, requiring the nuclear annihilation of the area surrounding both the facility it was being held in and the capital of Port Hanshan. The Council commends the Alliance's rapid response to the possible return of the rachni.

The Alliance finally secures the Traverse Line with an attack on the former quarian colony of Ket'osh, the site of an extensive mass relay monitoring network. The Fifth Fleet defeats the main geth expeditionary fleet in detail with heavy losses, which include Rear-Admiral Mikhailovich. Group-Captain Hannah Shepard takes command and successfully holds off the geth until the arrival of the Quarian Heavy Fleet. Ket'osh is handed over to the Migrant Fleet as a gesture of friendship between the Systems Alliance and the Quarian people.

Humanity signs the Versailles Pact with the Quarian Migrant Fleet in July, creating a permanent military alliance with the largest fleet in the galaxy, for the express purpose of liberating Rannoch from the geth. As Pact forces push their way through the Terminus with the unsolicited assistance of Cerberus attacks on pirate warlords, Shepard's hunt for Saren continues, leading her to the world of Virmire. A krogan cloning facility is discovered there, as well as information as to the true nature of the Reapers worshipped by the geth as gods. The genocidal machines are planning to return.

The war ends in September at the contemporaneous battles of Tikkun and the Citadel.

At the Citadel, Saren uses a micro mass relay on the world of Ilos to launch an assault with geth ground forces, in order to use the station in its original role as a relay to dark space. This is combined with an attack by Sovereign and a geth fleet previously undetected by Citadel forces. The battle traps millions inside the closed station with the synthetics, resulting in running firefights on the Presidium and the Wards.

Commander Shepard and her team follow via the Ilos micro-relay, and after storming the Citadel Tower, manages to defeat Saren. The traitorous Spectre is executed by Liara T'soni. The station is opened once more, exposing Sovereign. Meanwhile, the battered Alliance Fifth Fleet arrives to support the Citadel Fleet and Sovereign is destroyed, alongside the entirety of the geth space forces. The Alliance Army's Thirteenth Legion lands by titan on the station to assist C-Sec in clearing out geth ground forces, later joined by elements of three turian divisions.

At Tikkun, the joint Alliance-Quarian forces are joined by the bulk of Cerberus' own fleet, and the liberation of Rannoch begins. Ground troops are landed on Rannoch, the fleet maintains a highly aggressive posture that forces the geth to utilise all their numbers to fend off. Meanwhile, the Alliance deterrence fleets make for a partially completed geth Dyson Sphere in the Haestrom Cluster and destroy it. Combined with the defeat of Sovereign hours before, this convinces the geth that annihilation is their future if the war continues. The first geth formally surrender to Lieutenant James Vega of the US 101st Orbital Assault Division and Lieutenant Kal'Reegar of the Quarian Migrant Fleet in a bunker on Rannoch, quickly followed by the great majority of the geth fleet and ground armies.

Humanity becomes the fourth race of the Citadel Council for their defence of the Citadel itself, while the quarians become the fifth in December on the invitation of the asari.

Commander Shepard is assassinated on the Citadel in October, although her body was never found.

 **2184:**

The Torfan Memorial is opened in April, on what would have been Shepard's thirtieth birthday.

The Illium Incident occurs. The Alliance Fifth Fleet under the command of Admiral Hannah Shepard enters orbit over Illium and delivers an ultimatum to the matriarchs of the planet to hand over all human and quarian slaves as citizens owing military service to the Versailles Pact. The matriarchs refuse.

The Fifth Fleet bombards the planet's power grid with disruptor nanite weapons, leading to immediate blackouts. An asari fleet made up of ships loyal to those republics allied to Illium arrives, and begins skirmishing with the Alliance. Full battle is delayed only by the discharge requirements of the asari dreadnoughts, but political events overtake the military situation. On the precipice of war, the Council brokers an agreement to forgive all debts of bondage for human and quarian indentured servants on Illium in return for a ceasefire and future non-intervention in Illium's affairs.

The rebel batarian government in exile on the world of Shan'kharit declares the Batarian Commonwealth, as the sole legitimate government of the batarian people, and declares war on the Hegemony. The government signs the Pact of Versailles in August.

The Third Verge War breaks out between the Systems Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony, with the Alliance counting both the Quarians and the Batarian government-in-exile as part of its coalition. The lower castes rebel. The indoctrinated Hegemonic leadership is plagued by technological inferiority in its military, political unrest and belief in the invincibility of its own cause. Khar'shan falls in less than a month to human fleets and batarian rebel armies. The Great Ziggurat, seat and residence of the Arch-Hegemon, falls to Alliance special forces. The remains of the Reaper called the 'Leviathan of Dis' are discovered in its vaults.


	2. Chapter 2: The Angel of Death

**Chapter Two: The Angel of Death**

She dreamed for what seemed like several lifetimes.

Most of the timeless slumber, she was warm and content. Running through familiar corridors with familiar friends. Defying gravity in special places where the up was down. Running to exhaustion amid green fields or on the surface of barren grey moons with swirling gas giants overlooking her in the sky. Eating like she would never eat again, drinking and turning her mind to mush.

Sometimes she felt elation and ecstasy. Laying down with lovers, whose faces she couldn't quite remember but whose touch made her shudder. The thrill of dropping onto a planet's surface in a metal pod. The triumph of standing victorious over her enemies. What enemies? The relief of getting through a harrowing experience alive with people she trusted with her life. Fighting? She wasn't sure, but it felt like that.

There were also darker moments. Pure, cold fury at the sight of four-eyed creatures dragging people away into cages. Gut-twisting fear of losing those who stood beside her... Who were they that they made her feel like that? And overwhelming responsibility to save everyone and everything, like she was Atlas holding up the sky. For what?

She became annoyed. These questions had never entered her head before. Why now?

Slowly, the dreams faded away, into blackness. Across her skin, she felt a constant pressure, and then a current. She was under water? Was that why it was so black?

Out of the fog that clouded her mind, came a voice.

"Get her out of there already," the voice said, "Need I remind you just how screwed we are if you aren't quick about this?"

It wasn't like any voice She had heard before in her life. It seemed strained, rough, as if something was wrong with the person's throat. The man's throat. She couldn't believe that it belonged to any female creature. Except maybe a krogan. What is a krogan? More unbidden, confusing thoughts.

"It isn't as simple as just opening it," said a second voice, "Unless you want to carry her out."

This voice was flanged, the tone whipping almost like it was synthetic. Perhaps it was. An alien? Why would She think that? Also male?

"Not sure I mind," the first voice said, "I mean, look at her. She's something else."

He was referring to her, She knew. But She still couldn't see. Why? Wait. She had been dreaming. Dreaming means you are asleep. Her eyes were closed. She just had to open them.

She cracked open her eyelids slowly, reluctantly. There were glowing blurs all around her. Interfaces? She blinked twice, trying to regain her focus.

A face appeared before her. Human male. Scars all over it. Gunshot wound to the eyesocket, with a milky eye still intact within the reconstructed structure. Knife wound to the forehead, cutting into the scalp and the short black hair on the head. Dark blue eye on the other side, looking at something below her. Black and yellow armour, tattooed bicep. M-8 Avenger assault rifle held at rest in his hands. How did she know that? But not the important thing?

His eyes moved over the thing he was looking at, and She looked too. She was naked, in a water tank. She registered the mask over her mouth and nose at last, and the pipes running from it to the side, grabbing at it with her hands in shock. The world outside was a laboratory of some kind. High grade medical equipment.

And She realised he was looking at her. Oogling. But the movement of her hands had alerted him to the fact she was awake.

"Oh, sorry love," the man said, his mismatched eyes looking straight at hers, "No one told me you were a thing of beauty. Couldn't help myself. Sit tight. I'm not used to playing the knight in shining armour, but we'll get you out of there and to safety in no time."

She wasn't sure she believed him, but it wasn't like she had a choice. The man turned his head, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

"Feron, she's awake!" he called, the volume increasing the gravel in his tone, "What is taking so long back there?"

"I'm trying to open the tank without tripping the alarm," said the disembodied flanged reply, "I'm not certain I can, but I'm giving it a try."

The man bared his teeth. "We don't have time for that!" he shouted, "Every second that passes is one closer to some lab tech stumbling in here."

She wondered what was going on. Why she was there. Who these people were and why they wanted to get her away from this place. She knew she wanted to get away. She had to take the chance.

She motioned with her hands. The man smiled, revealing big canines. He had gotten the message. "Now you're talking," he said, "Think you and I are going to have a lot in common."

He spun the assault rifle in his hands around, hefted it up over his shoulder and brought the butt crashing down into the glass of the tank with a tremendous thud. She felt the impact throughout her entire body, the forces transmitted by the water. The glass cracked, and began to leak. The man swung the rifle again, and the glass split open, gushing the water out. She supported herself on her feet as the full weight of her body began to press against her. The third hit collapsed the entire glass facade.

The water swept past her, and and She staggered against the metal frame of the tank, struggling to keep her balance. What was wrong? Why couldn't she stand up straight? And suddenly, she could, almost as soon as the thought occurred to her. Long strands of wet red hair had fallen onto her face. Her hair. She swept it back onto her back, it was very long, and looked at the man.

He kicked the broken glass away from her and put a large black towel around her shoulders, which she drew around her, more to dry off than to cover herself. The air was cold, her skin going gooseflesh.

"Feron! Any alarms?" the man called.

An alien emerged from around a corner. An orange-silver face with blue-green skin. A drell. A rare species, less than a million alive in the galaxy. Another useless fact. Why couldn't She remember?

"None," the drell replied, "And you were an idiot for doing that without knowing for sure."

"It was her suggestion," the man said, "Get the package."

The drell made an irritated noise, and the man returned his attention to her. "Dry yourself off," he said, "You have a minute, maybe."

"Who..." She began.

"Zaeed Massani," he replied before She could finish her sentence, "The frogman back there is Feron. We're here to get you the hell out of here. Impossible mission, but not the first I've ever pulled off." He took another black towel and rubbed her hair with it, impatient that She wasn't drying herself off yet.

"No," She said, "Who am _I_?"

Massani immediately stopped rubbing her head. "Feron!" he shouted, "She doesn't remember who she is! God damn it, what did you do!"

The drell reappeared, pulling a large secure case behind him and let it drop to the floor in front of her. "I didn't do anything except administer the antidote to the sedative and hallucinogens they were pumping into her," he said, "Temporary memory loss could be a side effect."

"It better be temporary or the Boss will want our heads," the man said, "And we can kiss our bonuses goodbye even if he doesn't."

The drell opened the case, ignoring him. The man turned back to her.

"You're Commander Jane Shepard," he said, "The Angel of Death. A god-damn genuine hero. You were captured. We are here to rescue you. That's all you need to know for now."

The name meant... something to her. The nickname did too. He was telling the truth. But She couldn't remember anything. Her head hurt from trying.

Massani stood up, and pulled things out of the case. A grey bodysuit, and black pieces of armour with red lines showing where the modular kinetic barriers slotted into place.

"Put these on," he said, "There's a helmet too. Stuff your head and that hair into it, shut up, and follow my lead."

* * *

She walked behind Feron and in front of Massani as they made their way out of the laboratory. Through dark corridors of metal. The occasional window opened up, and outside was the black of space over a raging yellow and red storm. They were in a station above a gas giant, like the one she saw in her dreams.

Just where in the hell She was began to worry her. She hadn't even thought it was possible to come this close to a gas giant.

Another fact bothered her. The armour had fit her perfectly, not hugging in too close in any one place, not sagging either. They knew her proportions exactly. The one issue was the length of her hair. Even when dry, it got in her face. She had cut the front of it off with a combat knife offered by Massani, the fringe stopping just before her eyebrows. She kept the rest, instead twisting it up into an unclipped tail to put her helmet on. It had a full faceplate, the slits to see augmented with an artificial vision system. Her armour was built for heavy assaults, She knew. How? She just did.

Massani had handed her another Avenger and ordered her to keep it slung, and to follow Feron wherever he went. So she had.

Occasionally, they passed by other people. Turians on a patrol. Feron greeted them with a wave, and they nodded, watching her go by with passing curiosity as to who she was. If She was walking around, She had to be allowed to. That was the impression She got from their glances.

Asari lounging in leisure rooms overlooking the storm outside, also in armour. Salarians in more laboratories, working on mechanical devices. Server banks, whole corridors of them. Nothing to worry about.

Then She saw one. The four-eyed alien came around the corner, armoured and armed with a heavy pistol. A Carnifex. He was pacing quickly, looking at a datapad and not where he was going. He crashed right into her, dropping the pad. It was playing pornography. An asari and one of his own kind. The former in cuffs, hanging from a ceiling.

Disgust filled every inch of her. Not because of the porn, though that didn't help. She hated this being for deeper reasons. Yet she couldn't explain it. She couldn't remember anything. Except one word. _**Batarian**_.

"Watch where you're walking!" came the deep complaint for the collision, "I will cut you, bitch!"

Disgust turned to the cold fury she had experienced in her dream, but she felt an excitement she never felt then. The killer instinct.

She took her Avenger by the grip, letting it collapse open to allow it to fire, flicked the safety off with her thumb, and jammed the weapon under the batarian's chin. She was about to pull the trigger, when an armoured glove grabbed hold of the weapon, twisting it away. An unarmoured one shoved the batarian back against the wall. Massani looked down at her, eyes ablaze. She looked right back, defiant. Who was he to stop her, if she was the Angel of Death?

"Control her," the batarian said, "Or I'll control her for you. The Broker doesn't like fighting on his ship. I'm sure he'd agree to let me break her in, if you can't."

Massani's attention shifted to the alien. He let go of her rifle, and tapped his right thumb against the side of his right hand. An omniblade flashforged from the side of his arm, which he left hanging by his side.

"Your mouth is signing your death sentence for you," Massani said, "And after I just saved your life. She had you cold and could have blown what little brains you have clean out the top of your ugly skull. Be grateful by moving along, or I'll carve your heart out of your chest, _squint._ "

The racial insult had the man reaching for his pistol. She shouldered her rifle like she had been born with it in her hands, laying the sights on him with such quickness that his hand didn't even reach the weapon before she had him. Feron leveled a pistol at the batarian too, over the shoulder of Massani, who looked ready to leap forwards and stab the batarian to death if required.

Three on one is not good odds, and She knew batarians were especially cowardly when outnumbered. A flash of memory struck her. Batarians fleeing before her. Dying. It made her feel... even better.

"You win," the batarian grunted. He picked up the datapad, waved it dismissively at her, and practically ran down the corridor to escape. Feron lowered his pistol immediately. She kept hers at the ready until the batarian was out of sight, fighting with herself, wanting to let loose but not sure she could without her rescuers turning on her. It was a good thing she hadn't.

Massani's omniblade fell to the floor, released from the mass effect field that had held it, and he grabbed her with both hands, shoving her against the bulkhead that the batarian himself had been against seconds earlier. "What the hell was that?" he said, "Did I stutter when I told you to follow our lead? Are you trying to get us killed?"

"He needs to die," She replied, having nothing more to say on the subject.

"No shit," Massani growled in reply, "But you aren't the one to do it, and this isn't the time. There are hundreds of mercenaries on this ship, we can't fight them all, so you keep frosty. Get me?"

She felt anger bubble up, and shook off his arms. To her great surprise, she did it with absolute ease. To Massani's surprise too. He took a step back to keep upright, the force of her movement having been more than he had expected. He stared at her, and She at him, for a little while.

"We don't have time for this either," said Feron, stepping between them, "The docks are close. Let's move."

That snapped Massani out of it at once. She slung her rifle again as a peace offering, agreeing with the drell's assessment.

They got moving again.

* * *

The docks were the size of a large warehouse. Shuttles lined up against one wall, painted in a startling variety of colours, fighters against another wall, all painted black. UT-47 Kodiaks and Trident Strike Fighters. Why could She remember that and not her mother and father? At both ends of the docks, there were openings into space, the atmosphere kept inside by the faint blue glow of a gravity field.

No one was around, as far as She could tell. No techs, no pilots, no security staff. The lights were dimmed. The night cycle, she guessed. It explained the leisurely asari from before, and the batarian going around watching porn in the hallways without work to do.

Feron led them to the shuttle at the very end of the row to the left, mere metres from the hard vacuum of space. The storm outside seemed far more real, like She could reach out and scoop the gases with her hand. Like she was back in her dream.

Massani took out a small device and pressed a button. The shuttle's red doors opened forwards and slid back, revealing a passenger compartment with leather seats and a gun rack. A full gun rack.

"Did you bring the failsafe?" Feron asked, voice flanging more than usual with nerves.

"Yeah," Massani replied, "Fifteen kilotons." He dragged a smooth tube the same height he was out from the shuttle. It lacked any markings or indicators that it was anything other than a storage container, even the control screen at the top being a standard model. Except She knew exactly what kilotons meant.

A nuke. They were going to a lot of trouble to cover their tracks. She approved.

"Not enough to destroy the base," Feron said, as Massani pushed the nuke behind some crates where it wouldn't be found by anyone not looking closely.

"It's the largest one that I was sure wouldn't be detected," Massani replied, returning to the shuttle, "And it'll stop anyone from shooting us out of the sky."

"Hey!" came a deep shout. An alien shout.

Another batarian was approaching them from the door they had used to enter the docks. For a moment, she thought it was the same batarian as before, as he had similar skin tones and was holding a datapad. Her hand jerked towards her rifle, but She stopped herself when she saw that he was dressed in fatigues and was unarmed. Not the way the one from before would have chosen to confront her, not to mention Massani.

"What are you doing here?" the batarian demanded, "You're not authorised to leave."

"Get the shuttle going," said Massani quietly to Feron. The drell nodded and climbed inside, catching the thrown starter key from the human as he did so.

"Are your big human ears not functioning?" the batarian continued, "You can't just take off. Our pilots take you to and from this base. You mercenaries can't just come and go as you please. The fucking Spectres would be all over us if you did."

"I didn't come here by god damned taxi, I flew myself," Massani said, "That should tell you that the Broker trusts me a whole lot more than he trusts you. Can't you just let this go?"

That gave the batarian pause. "I'll have to verify that you're telling the truth," he said, "I believe you, but I don't make the shots around here."

She had enough. This was another of the four-eyed demons she had seen in her dreams. She remembered that now. And she knew how to deal with them.

Rather than get her rifle out, she took the combat knife that Massani had given her to cut her hair with into her palm. She rushed the batarian, grabbing him by the collar, and stabbing him in the gut. She twisted the blade, removed it, and shoved it into his chest. And repeated the movement, six or seven times. The air deflating from his lungs, he couldn't even shout or scream in pain. The life drained out of him, and onto her armour as much as the floor. Only when he struggled no more did she stop stabbing, and let his body slide to the floor.

"Saved me the trouble," Massani remarked. The 'mercenary' stepped forward and grabbed the batarian's arms, before dragging him off to the opening to space. With some exertion, he kicked the body over the edge, and it was grabbed by the winds of the gas giant, disappearing from sight immediately.

"Let's get out of here," She said.

Massani nodded, and the two of them joined the drell in the shuttle, falling into the leather seats and strapping in. "Nuke armed," he said, "Two minutes."

Feron sent the shuttle at full tilt out of the docks, and upwards to safety. A rear camera kept a watch for chasing fighters, beaming the images to the screen beside Massani, who seemed to be counting down with his lips. No pursuers appeared from the base, which was indeed a giant ship, larger than a fleet carrier or a dreadnought. A bright light flashed from the dock section, as the nuke finally detonated.

She felt a sense that she had just escaped a terrible fate. There was no possibility that whoever put her in that tank had any good intentions for her. Not if the talk between her rescuers about hallucinogenic drugs was real.

Massani seemed to relax, slouching back in his chair and resting a foot on the knee of his other leg. He reached down to a small compartment beside his seat, and retrieved a bottle of something, opening it and taking a swig. He noticed She was watching, and offered her a bottle too. She took it. It was beer. Bubbly, a little bitter, refreshing as anything could be. Why did it feel like she hadn't tasted beer in years?

"So, you'll want to know where we're going," Massani said, "And who's meeting you there when we arrive."

"The thought had occurred to me," She said.

"Well, I work for Cerberus. At least today, I do," Massani said, "You remember who they are?"

"Human supremacists and terrorists according to some," She replied, "Protectors of the independent human colonies in the Terminus, and advocates for greater human independence to others."

"You got it," said Massani, "I'm with Clandestine Operations for the Confederation of the Terminus. Cerberus' little kingdom, like you said, though they're not like the Alliance. Superb pay, being the difference I care about. I usually pose as a mercenary to make even more, never mind that I'm usually ordered to. Probably burned good with the Broker now, if he survived that little bomb of mine, but we had to get you out."

She didn't know how to feel about what the man had said.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Omega," Feron replied from the cockpit, "Neutral territory."

"Aria's territory," Massani corrected, "But it's the only place that we can keep you while Cerberus works out the details with the Alliance. If all goes well, they'll both send people to meet you there. You get to enjoy the pleasure of our company until then. If not, then it'll be someone from Cerberus only."

"Why does the Alliance care?" She asked.

"The memory thing is worse than I thought," Massani said with a scowl, "At least, you didn't seem to lose your fighting ability with your memories, so it slipped my mind."

"There's a file on my datapad containing her personal records," Feron said, "Give it to her to read. Maybe that will jog her memory."

Massani grabbed a bag that was on one of the other chairs, and rummaged through it for a moment. He took out the datapad, tapped on it with the little finger of the hand holding his beer a few times, and threw it onto the seat beside her.

She picked it up, and saw a picture of a red-haired woman with green eyes staring back at her. She had a medal around her neck, and was looking at a man in a suit. It was her. Her hair was shorter, but it was her. She knew it.

She scrolled downwards to read.

"Take your time," said Massani, "It's not a very short flight to Omega."

She ignored him. She read as quickly as she could, desperate to know just who Jane Shepard was.

* * *

 **Codex: Jennifer "Jack" Haider  
**

Jennifer Haider, better known to the galaxy as Jacqueline "Jack" Nought, is a lieutenant of the Alliance Army First Legion attached to the Joint Army-Navy Unified Section (JANUS). Born in 2161 on Eden Prime, she exhibited biotic capabilities at an early age, and was thought to be one of the victims of the Bombing of the MV Manhattan in the skies over her birthworld in 2165 while being taken to a specialised facility for biotic children. However, the entire bombing was a ruse committed by Cerberus operatives to allow access to a large pool of test subjects for biotic enhancement experiments. For seven years, she was Subject Zero, the core of the project, during which time her biotic capabilities were increased by a variety of medical and surgical means, the techniques of which were first tested on other biotic children. She was also conditioned to enjoy combat through forced fistfights with her fellow kidnapped children, and was rewarded when she won with a cocktail of drugs.

At the age of eleven, Jack escaped during a riot of the other biotic children and killed everyone in the facility in which she was kept on Pragia, including the other children, whom she could not identify as wishing to get close to her in order to escape their captors. She escaped in a stolen shuttle, but was picked up in the Dakka System days later by pirates. The pirates abused her physically and sexually, before selling her into slavery on Omega. The next years of her life were equally as brutal and bloody, as she escaped her new masters with ease thanks to her biotics and survived in the Terminus Systems however she could. She took the moniker 'Jack' as she could no longer remember her real name, and eventually became a pirate of some notoriety due to her age and ruthlessness.

In 2177, she joined a cult, in an attempt to save herself from the constant drug use and killing. The cult turned her into both an object of worship as a 'biotic goddess' and the equivalent of a temple prostitute, entrapping her for nearly a year. In 2178, the cult became the object of Alliance attention in the follow up from the Battle of Torfan, due to their purchase of slaves for the purposes of expanding the number of temple prostitutes. The cult's compound was assaulted by the Alliance First Legion under the command of Major Karla Haider, a hero of the just-ended Second Verge War. Jack learned her real name and heritage from Haider. After her birth parents refused to care for their missing child out of fear for their other children, Haider adopted Jack herself, unable to abandon the girl to the galaxy once more.

For the next two years of her life, Jack was rehabilitated, receiving anti-addition medications to relieve her drug habits and working hard to regain her humanity. In 2179, she applied to join the Alliance military to follow in her adoptive mother's footsteps. She succeeded, as her criminal history was entirely confined to the Terminus and thus she had no records to speak of. She aced basic and advanced combat training, but found the line military life far too restrictive and quit the service. Afraid that she had disappointed Karla by 'failing' in her eyes, she returned to the Terminus and her old life as a criminal, although largely refrained from her previous drug habits. She had learned from her time in Alliance space, and formed a small close-knit crew for taking big scores, using professional means as much as brute force. The most infamous event she was involved in was the 'Illium Riot of 2181', during which she caused a planet-wide riot on Illium on her 20th birthday.

However, she never stayed out of contact with her adoptive mother for long. Karla Haider had climbed the ranks quickly, and became Army Director of the Defence Intelligence Directorate with the rank of Major-General in late 2182. Her unparalleled intelligence work, and political connections with the right wing People's Party under the leadership of Alice Dennison, made her one of the most powerful women in the galaxy. In 2183, the geth attacked Eden Prime, and General Haider used the opportunity to bring Jack back to the Alliance with an offer to join the First Legion, the Alliance Special Forces. The Alliance needed every soldier available to fight the geth, which were then dropping on colonies all over Alliance space and putting civilians to death. Jack joined the _Fallschirmjager_ units of the European Union's orbital assault special forces.

Jack's combat service during the Eden Prime War was exemplary, and the only disciplinary inquiries she was the subject of had to do with her platoon's conduct off the front lines. Her personal ties with her fellow soldiers grew deep in a short time, and were made deeper by the combat losses her unit suffered. She was promoted to lieutenant, again at the behest of her adoptive mother, so as to be able to lead her platoon after her original lieutenant was killed in action. She was present at Virmire, and fought alongside Commander Shepard when that world fell to the Alliance. Injured in that battle, she was returned to the Citadel to recover, only to end up fighting the geth during Sovereign's assault on the station. Again, she fought with Shepard, this time against Saren personally, and played a key role in aiding the Commander to defeat him.

After the victory in the Eden Prime War, Jack stayed in the Alliance military, the special forces suiting her far more than she had expected. In 2184, her platoon was selected by General Haider for a mission on Illium, during which it was learned that the Batarian Hegemony was planning to attack the Alliance, all under the influence of Reaper indoctrination in its political and military leadership. While this set the stage for the Third Verge War, it also placed Jack in the spotlight of politicians, whom found her relationship with her mother to be inappropriate to being under the command of the same. She was transferred to the newly created JANUS unit under the command of the Naval Director of the DID, Admiral David Anderson.

As General Haider has been the head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine as of 2184 and has no biological children, Jack is her heir since her _pro forma_ baptism into the Catholic faith in 2179. Her full name and title is Her Imperial & Royal Highness, Jennifer Haider von Habsburg, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Jerusalem, Royal Princess of Hungary and Bohemia. Karla Haider insisted on passing these titles on to her adopted daughter, as proof of her affection. Jack is not known to have ever used or called upon her royal titles.

 **Codex: Joint Army-Navy Unified Section (JANUS)**

The Joint-Army Navy Unified Section, or JANUS, is a expanded-company sized unit made up of both First Legion soldiers and N7 Marines. Created after the Third Verge War, its primary function is to seek out and combat possible Reaper agents, willing or otherwise. This has left it primarily tasked with actions against Cerberus and Terminus pirate lords along the new frontiers created by the joint Alliance-Quarian victory over the geth, as they are considered the most likely candidates for enemy indoctrination and disruption attempts. However, rumours of Alliance black-book actions within Citadel space have also been laid directly at its feet, although the name and composition of the force remains a closely guarded secret. The unit is under the overall command of Admiral David Anderson, and it is led in the field by Commander Jacob Taylor, formerly of the SSV Churubusco, and Commandant Pearse, seconded from the First Legion SAS.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: And so Shepard steps into the story._

 _The plan is to have shorter chapters published more often from single perspectives. I think that's better writing and it means more regular updates for you. Win-win. Updates will alternate with my Dragon Age story Outlander._

 _I hope you enjoyed reading!_

 _ **:** I hadn't noticed, to be honest haha_

 _ **KnightOfHolyLight:** Man, I'd pay to see certain things from the two of them. They're two of my favourite characters._

 _Miranda wasn't really responsible for her failure in this case. Cerberus' security chief for Lazarus wasn't up to the job, and Jacob Taylor is still with the Alliance in this canon (as the Alliance isn't incompetent)._

 _As for Shepard, you'll just have to wait and see._

 _ **Just a Crazy-Man:** Cheers mate._

 _ **OMAC001:** Hows this for a change?_


	3. Chapter 3: The General

**Chapter Three: The General**

The doors opened with a whisper. Behind them was the familiar bright briefing room, the hemicycle of seats surrounding a cluster of holographic projections. The back wall windows allowed the entire facility in the middle of the rust-red Martian vista to be seen clearly, the fifty-thousand years old Prothean Ruins sitting in a pit surrounded by structures built by the Alliance that were fifteen years old at most. Mars was just as inhospitable as ever, despite the huge technological achievements of humanity, yet it remained special.

The collection of operatives and analysts rose from their seats and saluted, the Army's grey uniforms occupying one side of the room and the Navy's blue dominating the other. A single person in grey waited at the rostra, datapads held up against her with one hand as the other fixed her short strawberry-blonde hair.

"Atten-tion!" called the sergeant at the door, "Major-General present!"

The entire room saluted towards the door.

Karla Haider swept her eyes over the room, acknowledging every officer with her gaze, before saluting herself. The rest stopped their salute as she did. Everyone looked engaged with what was about to happen, even though it had happened weekly since the end of the Eden Prime War nearly two years earlier. Good, she thought, no one has forgotten what they were all there for. Not that she ever expected that they would be.

With the formalities out of the way, she descended the gentle stepped slope to the rostra, as the officers returned their attentions to getting their own houses in order as best they could, in case they were called upon later.

"Major Sullivan," Karla said in greeting, taking an offered datapad, "Is everything prepared as we discussed?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sullivan replied, "But Anderson's operation commenced later than previously thought, and we do not have information on its outcome yet."

Karla's head whipped around to look at the Major. That wasn't the news she wanted to hear. She wanted to have answers for the politicians. There was a good deal of whining in her near future, she knew. The politicians only ever wanted results, and didn't care about the method of getting them provided nothing came back to bite them in the ass.

Which was why Jack was gallivanting about the galaxy with Anderson, rather than being under the close watch of her step-mother.

She grit her teeth, and nodded her head. "Very well, Major," she said, "We still have much to get through today."

Sullivan responded by tapping on the datapad she had kept to herself. The windows polarised, blocking off the Martian vista and darkening the room. Lights turned on in response, dim ones. This signalled to all that the operations meeting was about to begin.

The Major always thought and acted lock-step with Karla's own intentions, which was why she was being groomed to be her eventual successor. Lisa Sullivan had two degrees from King's College, in psychology and strategic studies. She had joined the Alliance military in the final year of the Second Verge War, and had served in intelligence ever since. She had only middling combat scores, but more to the point, she was capable of reading people, regardless of species, with the same supernatural capability as Karla herself. Perhaps to an even greater degree. As an analyst, she had no equal.

Another daughter-figure, Karla had thought on meeting the young woman for the first time, and not without a certain exasperation. On the other hand, Sullivan had cut through Jack's walled personality so cleanly that the latter did in fact regard the former as a sister.

It was for these reasons that Karla remained silent, sitting down on one of the available chairs, and allowed the Major to start proceedings.

"Tomorrow is the Consular Briefing," Sullivan began, "Both Dennison and deBankole have requested additional information from all sections. They expressed their displeasure at last week's briefing leaving out news of a possible route to capturing Cerberus' leader, which we felt had to be kept under wraps until the last moment. So, this week, we will indulge them a little."

Sullivan tapped her datapad again, and a representative map of the galaxy fizzled into existence in the middle of the air, where both those on the rostra and those seats in the hemicycle could see it.

"We will start with the Reapers, as usual," she continued, looking up at a specific crew, "The Reaper Taskforce identified several possible enemy actions last month, and investigated. Could you summarise your findings?"

Another Major stood up, Johanna Gardner, whom Karla knew to be the most meticulous of the analysts, never letting a key piece of information go unexamined by less than three separate teams. Luckily, she was an excellent organiser as well, and so her work was never delayed by her thoroughness either.

"The resistance to Alliance moves to build up against the war in the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union are viewed to be the most likely candidates for classification as enemy action at this time," Major Gardner reported, "Some matriarchs and dalatrasses behind the political and military elements moving against our interests have no economic or political interest in doing so. Some of the matriarchs were previously judged to be supporters of humanity, but have since switched their allegiances. We are getting a great deal of intelligence out of the Republics, and what we are seeing increasingly worries us."

Karla became uncomfortable, as if itching all over. She crossed her hands on her lap, as if to soothe the need to move about. The Salarians could be dealt with. They only ever planned for a war in which they launched the first blow. The Alliance, sitting right up against their borders, could react to any such blow with absolute fury. But the Asari Republics were more wealthy, deadlier as individuals, possessed a larger fleet, and their territory was on the other side of the Turians' own. To say nothing of Illium or Aria T'loak.

"Indoctrination," she said, "You have finally pieced together information that suggests that Sovereign indoctrinated more than Saren and Benezia's direct subordinates."

Major Gardner hesitated, betraying a certain resignation about her coming answer. "We have information that suggests that some of the asari and salarian leadership are acting contrary to the interests of their species, and in the case of the asari, their own personal interests. But without testing them, we cannot know for sure. However, their behaviour is beginning to fit with patterns that were reported from the batarian leadership before our liberation of Khar'shan. The asari and salarians are also the most vulnerable to this sort of subversion, as they are the two oldest spacefaring species and their societies would not filter out mentally compromised persons as the Turian Hierarchy does."

Karla thought that was an optimistic view of the turians' meritocracy. After all, Saren had risen through its ranks to a certain height before becoming a Spectre. However, the turians were the only Council race other than the quarians considered to be cooperating to a satisfactory degree on the Reaper problem. Perhaps the Major was right. She bit her lip, wondering if a miscalculation on this could be the end of humanity.

"What about the other possibilities?" Sullivan asked, "The pirate attacks in the Traverse on Cerberus colonies?"

Major Gardner shook her head. "Motive remains a problem for declaring them an act of the Reapers," she replied, "Although the abduction of so many civilians is most definitely unusual, abductions in general are not. It does not fit with the known modus operandi of the Reapers to capture rather than kill, for one. For another, the economic rewards in capturing thousands is obvious to any Terminus pirate. If it was some play to provoke the Alliance into declaring war with the Terminus, they would attack Alliance colonies. Instead, they have kept to the Cerberus and independent worlds."

"I would not be so sure, Major," Karla said, "Consul deBankole is very willing to go to war over this. Cerberus or not, those colonies' rightful government is the Systems Alliance, whether they like it or not. Consul Dennison does not share the view, however, nor does the opposition in Parliament. The Reapers could mean to provoke a war, but will accept the continued division of humanity as a consolation prize."

"With respect General, we thought of that," Gardner said, "The Terminus warlords and pirate barons have sold a large number of captives, we know that. Their increased wealth is showing on the market, especially on Illium. If it was the Reapers, would the pirates be getting paid? After the attack on the Citadel, would any pirate fail to recognise a Reaper for what it really was?"

Karla wondered about that. After all, they had only two Reapers as samples; Sovereign and the broken remains of the Leviathan of Dis recovered from under the Great Ziggurat of Khar'shan. The latter was too broken, and the former had been looted for technology before the Alliance got a chance to look at everything. Comparisons couldn't be made. One Reaper may not have been the same as the next.

"What about our own people?" Sullivan asked, "Any evidence of indoctrination in Alliance or Pact space?"

"None whatsoever," Gardner replied, "Any erratic behaviour reported to us has been investigated and not a single case has returned with a positive result. Our neurological tests based off of Matriarch Benezia's brain chemistry are crude, but combined with good background work, we are confident we can catch Reaper thralls if they exist."

"Our working theory is that we are too new to the galaxy for any indoctrinated person to have risen to high enough rank to warrant scrutiny. Getting to those already highly ranked is simply too difficult, and humans are still suspicious of aliens. Rannoch is even more secure; the quarians always have kept a close watch on their own, and report no cases similar to what we have seen from the asari or salarians. Combined with our own counterintelligence and security measures, even lower ranked enemy agents will be unable to do significant damage to the war effort."

"Good," Karla said, "Speaking of Counterintelligence... Commander Kukic, your report. "

Gardner sat down, and the dour Croatian Major responsible for sniffing out enemy intelligence operations stood up, sweeping his hand down his blue Navy uniform before speaking. "We have repelled thirty seven major hacking attempts since our last briefing," he said, "Seventeen salarians have been arrested in connection with them, including three of the salarians' embassy staff. In addition, one volus and a private military contractor he paid off were arrested for financial irregularities relating to security on Terra Nova. We don't know if this was a turian operation or a purely volus one."

"That's more attempts than last month," Sullivan noted aloud, "And almost double from the month before."

"Is that rise connected to the Reapers?" Karla asked.

"The opponent is likely the STG in the case of the salarians," said Kukic, "The volus' motives are unknown at this time. The STG are known to be very worried about our fleetbuilding programme, and our voting bloc on the Council with the turians and quarians. More so about the turians, for the obvious reason that they are possess the single most powerful navy. The salarians do not consider the Versailles Pact to be a single force."

Karla nodded, finding nothing surprising about the information. If someone was hacking into military and civilian networks, the STG was always the first suspect. She envied their electronic espionage techniques, and was very glad that humanity's own comparatively hardened electronic practices allowed reasonable defence against them.

"Forward me your full report," she said, turning to Sullivan, "We'll move on to the Terminus. Tell me about Illium."

Fucking Illium, as Jack would say. Karla smiled. Nothing summed up that world more than that phrase.

"The matriarchs are stalling on the latest round of inspections," came the reply, "Our inspectors have been held up at the ports."

Karla clenched her right fist, cold anger settling in her stomach. "I-Sec are detaining our people?," she said, "Why was I not informed? That is a clear violation of the agreement we made on withdrawing from the system."

"It isn't I-Sec," Sullivan replied, "It's the Eclipse. They've occupied areas around the spacedocks and check all human or quarian passengers. The matriarchs have not claimed responsibility, but it is clear from their inaction that they are the ones pulling the strings."

This was far more problematic, Karla realised. Eclipse wasn't just present on Illium, but on Omega and the entire 'western' Terminus too. Messing with them would have meant a galactic scale war, albeit a smaller one than even the Verge Wars had been.

"They must have put a lot of money on Sederis' desk," she said, "But I don't believe she did this purely for money's sake. Do we have any leads as to Eclipse's motivation? Is it an internal power play or do they want to expand their influence in the Terminus at our expense?"

"We have no intelligence on that yet," Sullivan replied.

Karla sighed, seeing that the Consular Briefing was not going to be an easy one. Especially if Anderson didn't succeed in his little plot against Cerberus. The Consuls would likely disagree on the appropriate response to the matriarchs' defiance, leaving the decision hanging in the balance. That would benefit no one. This problem needed to be gotten in front of.

"What about T'soni and Section Greif," she said, "Are their covers still intact?"

"Yes, General," Sullivan responded, "But they're spread out over the planet. T'soni's still working as a Prothean architecture consultant, and T'nara-Khan is a bartender. Most of the useful intel on the matriarchs' possible hiding places for Reaper tech has come from them, moving about Illium society."

"Order them to gather all their assets," Karla ordered, "And prepare to check out the most promising target themselves. Quietly. If we can catch a company working on Reaper tech behind closed doors, we can bring larger guns to bear than the Eclipse will be willing to face down." By convincing the turians to join in, Karla thought with no small amount of savage pleasure. The old blue bitches would kneel, if she had any say in it.

"Mercenaries," Sullivan sneered, "Cowards all."

"Not all of them are cowards," Karla mused aloud, "Many are ex-military, remember."

Sullivan opened her mouth to respond, but the omnitool on Karla's wrist began to buzz an alarm. An incoming priority one call. From both Anderson _and_ Jack. A joint call from two of the four people who could ever made such a call.

Karla's heart soared with pride and hope. Did it mean that Anderson's ploy had worked? Whatever the news, it had to be hugely significant. A failure on Anderson's part would have only merited a textual ping, nothing more.

"Sullivan, take over," she said, "I need to take this."

After receiving a confirmation from the Major, Karla walked up the stairs on the other side to that she entered on, and went into a small comms room across the chamber opposite the entrance doors. It was also a circular room, with the holographic projectors in the centre. With a few quick taps to her omnitool, the call transferred to the main system.

The figures of Anderson and Jack fizzled into existence, blue outlines of their true selves. Both of them looked almost shellshocked...

Karla's breath stuck, and she had to clear her throat to be able to speak. This was not how she had imagined the state her foremost colleague and her stepdaughter would be in.

"What is it?" she demanded, "Why do both of you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Bad news first," said Anderson, regaining his usual composure, "The Illusive Man was not aboard the Anubis. It appears Cerberus has developed QEC technology. Their marching orders flow through the ship, but it's not the source."

"We did capture Lawson, and the ship is intact except for the engine pods," Jack added sheepishly, "But not the head honcho."

"So it was still a success," Karla replied, "Bring the Anubis into the Crossroads and we can debrief Lawson." At least the Quarians couldn't complain about being excluded if it was all done at the intersection of human and quarian space.

Anderson shook his head slowly. Karla shook her head more rapidly in response. What was wrong with that plan?

"We had to leave the ship," said Anderson, "And release Lawson."

Karla couldn't believe her ears, her eyes widening.

"You what?" she said, "You released an enemy of the Alliance?"

She was going insane. This could not be happening. Anderson was going to get dishonourably discharged for this, and it looked like her own daughter would be going down with him. And that was the best case scenario. Aiding terrorists tended to get you charged with treason.

"We had no choice," Anderson said, "The Illusive Man has intelligence of greater value."

"Greater value than a dreadnought and his own right hand woman?" Karla retorted, "It better be pretty damn great!"

" _Mutti..._ " Jack said, "Shepard's alive."

Karla wished Jack was physically in front of her, not just a hologram, so she could shake some sense into the woman. She'd do much worse to Anderson. Shepard being alive was certainly possible. Shepard being in Cerberus hands was either impossible or a complete political and media disaster.

"I cannot believe you fell for such a lie," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose in complete disbelief, "If Cerberus had Shepard, I would have heard about it. We've been getting great intelligence on the terrorists for months now. You even discovered the Anubis' role, which was the whole point of this operation."

The Admiral seemed to scowl, his features tightening up. Not at Karla, but at himself. Or perhaps, the circumstances they all found themselves in.

"Your contacts are compromised," Anderson said, "Mine too. The Illusive Man knows what sections of his organisation we have spies in, and he quarantined the more sensitive projects. Besides that, what they say matches up with what we know happened. There was an attack by the Blue Suns on Cerberus facilities recently. There was a firefight between the Blue Suns and Cerberus on Omega about a year and a half ago, serious enough that Aria had to get involved. The former was the Blue Suns trying to find Shepard in a medical facility. The latter was Cerberus rescuing Shepard from her kidnappers."

"Except everyone and their dog knows about those events," Karla said, "Cerberus don't have to lie about them, just provide an alternate explanation about why the Blue Suns would be fighting them."

"They had her clothes," Jack cut in, "Bloody clothes. I didn't believe them until they showed us that. The DNA matched too."

Karla examined her stepdaughter's eyes more closely, surprised to hear such a thing said from such a person.

If there was someone who would not trust Cerberus, it would be Jack. The terrorists had torn her apart and rebuilt her as a killing machine. Much of what Karla had done to earn her trust was to rebuild her again as a human being. But the young woman never forgot what had been done to her, even after the facility she had been 'raised' in was destroyed by an Alliance nuclear strike. Cerberus would be made to pay.

Yet here she was, saying Cerberus had saved humanity's hero. If Jack believed it, then it was worth investigation.

"So, are they going to hand her over?" Karla said, pivoting straight, "And what's the price?"

"The Shadow Broker had her," Anderson replied, "But Cerberus had a mole in his organisation, and apparently a mercenary contact they could leverage to help too. They broke her out. She's on a shuttle flying to Omega right now."

The Major-General put her hands on her hips. The Shadow Broker wasn't someone you crossed lightly, and it would be verifiable if Cerberus had in fact did so. By the time Shepard reached Omega, the truth of the matter would be concrete or not.

"Omega..." Karla thought aloud, "That's as close to a neutral location as you can get out there. Good move on their part. I would have the First Legion do what they do best if it was anywhere else."

"And the price is that Cerberus will try to recruit Shepard," Anderson continued, "The Illusive Man wants to use the Batarian Commonwealth and our lack of response to the attacks on the independent human worlds as proof that the Alliance has lost its way."

"But he's still allowing us the chance to talk to her on Omega..." Karla said, "Why?"

"To humiliate us," Anderson replied, "Increase support for Terra Firma within the Alliance, and solidify the Confederation of the Terminus into a real nation. That's been his goal for the past few years now. Thanks to the new Alliance presence right next door in the Traverse and the Quarians in the North-East Passage, the population feels threatened enough to go along with that to an extent. With this, he could succeed."

"Then we better stop him," Jack growled, "Right?"

Karla opened her mouth to agree, but paused.

"We have to try..." she said, "But we have to keep the Reapers in mind too."

"A united human nation in the Terminus and Traverse would be a good ally against them," Anderson agreed, "The next election is two years away. If we can convince Shepard to play along with Cerberus' agenda for a year, a year and a half, we've got a chance to bring them on side. If the Reapers take longer than that to arrive, we can flip Shepard and divide the Confederation, maybe even integrate parts of it into the Alliance."

Jack grumbled at that, loudly, but held her tongue as to the specifics of her distaste for that idea. Not that it wasn't obvious anyway. Karla smiled, disliking the idea too. The necessities of war were not always tasteful.

"All of that means getting someone we can trust in Omega," Anderson concluded, "Not easy. The Navy doesn't have anyone there right now."

"Nor do we in the Army," Karla replied cheerily, "But the civvies do. I'll talk to Langley. They'll lend us Chambers. She's living on Omega right now."

" _Kelly_ Chambers?" Jack asked, blinking, "My shrink?"

"She's not just a psychologist, Jack," Karla said flatly, "She's CIA."

And someone Karla trusted implicitly.

* * *

 **Codex: Human Civilian Intelligence Agencies**

The formation of the Systems Alliance in 2150 and the adoption of the Army Legion System in 2165 formally merged all human military intelligence agencies into one; the Defence Intelligence Directorate. As those organisations were a part of their militaries, the member states were obliged to amalgamate them by the treaty that established the Alliance, even though this took fifteen years to fully accomplish.

However, those nations with civilian intelligence agencies retained them, and the most significant of them continued to exist. Foremost among them are the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America, the Federal Intelligence Service of the European Union and the African State Security Agency. These giants are joined by police intelligence agencies ranging from the national to the municipal level of government, and the agencies of smaller nations like Japan or Australia for protecting their colonies.

Typically, these agencies do not directly engage in military operations, covert or otherwise, despite the history of many of them in doing so. This is due to the influence of the DID, which seeks to monopolise all covert and special operations capabilities throughout human space to its own command. This does not prevent the civilian operations from using mercenaries to carry out their own actions, especially outside of Citadel space where the DID's presence is far more limited. The civilian agencies are considered to be experts on intelligence gathering and sabotage in the Terminus, where their lack of overt military acumen allows for the greater flexibility required.

The relationship between the Alliance's DID and its member states' own agencies is friendly, but the latter often asserts their independence to the chagrin of the former. There have been attempts to merge some of the agencies into the DID itself, but these have been fiercely resisted by a cross-partisan group within the Alliance Parliament wishing to preserve member states' identities in the face of cultural and political homogenisation.

 **Codex: Hero-class Guided Missile Destroyer**

First conceived of in 2180 alongside the Normandy-class frigate and the Churubusco-class deterrence frigate, the Hero-class is to be humanity's next great contribution to naval warfare.

With careful analysis of naval conflict across the galaxy for the five centuries preceding its entry into galactic politics, as well as the conflicts of the recent past, the Alliance has long sought an edge over the other navies of the galaxy. For the early years of its contact with the Citadel, the carrier was that edge, but with the development of asari drone carriers and batarian suicide attacks, the dominance of that class of vessel is less than it was during the Second Verge War. This was an eventuality that the Alliance foresaw, and the development of a guided missile destroyer with stealth characteristics equipped with trans-relay ballistic missiles was deemed to be the solution.

Development of the ship proceded at pace from 2180 to 2183, but the problem of armament remained. How to target enemy ships from beyond the range of even the best sensors, how to guide missiles to targets through relays when their orbits were not static, and what sort of ordnance the missiles themselves should carry, all of these were issues that were not resolved until after the Eden Prime War. By then, two ships of the class were already being built.

The solution was the Charybdis missile, a development of the Scylla missile TRBM used by Alliance deterrence forces for the delivery of eezo-enhanced nuclear ordnance. The Charybdis instead uses an up-sized disruptor torpedo warhead, and is guided by quantum entanglement communication derived from Reaper technology. Normandy-class stealth frigates attached to the same wolfpack as a Hero-class destroyer are used to guide the missiles, using their ability to close in with targets undetected to do so. The QECs allow three-missile sorties to be launched from the other side of the galaxy and still hit their targets with an error margin of centimetres, although the longest ranged test firing conducted by the Alliance was only conducted at one sixth of the distance of the most lengthy possible set of relay jumps.

This development came just as the Alliance began looking for a Reaper-Killer weapon, and production of Hero-class destroyers, Normandy-class frigates and Charybdis TRBMs was given the highest priority from 2183 onwards. In addition, existing Churubusco-class deterrence frigates were outfitted with QECs and now fly with both Charybdis and Scylla missiles.

In addition to its hyper-range attack capabilities, the Hero-class is also equipped to fight multiple frigates at once, having eight point defence batteries, three spinal mass accelerators and eight disruptor torpedo tubes. Although it lacks the Tantalus Drive of the Normandy and the Churubusco, its internal emissions sink is superior and the Hero-class can lurk in stealth mode for greater time periods than either of the stealth frigates.

The Hero-class vessels are all named for great warriors of human history. The first was originally planned to be named SSV Kublai Khan, but was renamed SSV Jane R Shepard in honour of the first human Spectre after her alleged assassination on the Citadel in late 2183.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for all the delays, the holiday period is a real bitch._

 _Any suggestions for future codexes are welcome, as are your reviews!_

 _Enjoy!_


	4. Chapter 4: Zaeed

**Chapter Four: Zaeed**

The Angel of Death slept in her seat, leaning her head against a pillow which was propped between it and the bulkhead, red hair spilling out over her shoulder onto the grey bodysuit, the black and red armour removed for comfort. Her freckled face was utterly relaxed. The armour itself was stacked up on the seat beside, with two datapads on top. The information on them about her past self was extensive, and was probably the reason she needed to go to sleep after having been asleep for so long. She inhaled and exhaled steadily, without the need for tubes down her throat for the first time in what was probably more than a year.

Zaeed Massani blew a breath out through his teeth, multiple frustrations weighing on his mind as he sat in the opposite seat, watching. His sleep was interrupted again by these problems.

The first was the memory loss. Feron had said it was temporary, but none of the datapads had done anything significant to help. The woman before him knew who she was now, but still couldn't recall for herself. Yet she was still herself, at least in part. Zaeed hoped for his own sake as much as the galaxy's that the remains of her personality meant she could recover everything.

Another frustration was Omega. It was taking too damn long to get there. If the Shadow Broker had survived the nuking of his base, which was certainly possible due to its sheer size, he was almost certainly sending out bounty offers and orders to mercenaries. Every shuttle launch from his ship was logged, Zaeed knew. Who knew what the factions on Omega would do with such an offer. Causing trouble on Aria T'loak's station wasn't for the fainthearted, but he wasn't even sure that a firefight with three people counted as trouble on Omega. The only thing that might upgrade that skirmish to something of interest would be revealing his ward's identity to Aria, but that was a no-no according to Lawson's orders.

The foremost problem in Zaeed's mind was closer to hand; Jane Shepard was utterly beautiful.

Yes, she was pretty in the traditional sense, but that wasn't the whole story. If she had been just some regular person, or even a model of some sort, he wouldn't have paid her a second look. Women like that were everywhere. There were twenty billion humans in the galaxy, after all. No, it was the look in her eye when that batarian had insulted her, and she went immediately for the kill. There was fury, yes, but there was focus too. Zaeed knew what that mix felt like, how intoxicating it was. He liked her because she was like him. Very few women were.

He had even stupidly stood for her against that same batarian bastard. That was overprotective. Even territorial. Which was all a pity, because there was no way in hell he could ever have her.

He blew out another annoyed breath, and closed his eyes to go back to sleep. Leave it be, old man, he thought, before finally slipping back under.

* * *

The awakening from Feron came after what felt like only a few minutes, in the form of a few pushes against his shoulder. Zaeed woke to the sight of expanded drell pupils, and jerked up slightly in surprise.

"Damn it Feron!" he said loudly, rubbing his eyes, "Don't do that." The drell backed off, making his apologies and scuttling off back to the cockpit of the shuttle.

"We're coming up on Omega," Feron called as he moved, with no small amount of sarcasm, "Thought you would want to know."

Zaeed's shout had roused Shepard too. She was suddenly very alert and sitting up straight in her place, ready to move instantly if there had been danger. She slept lightly, he realised. He hoped that didn't mean she knew he had been staring at her while thinking of the problems they would all be facing shortly. He scratched his chain in idle thought about the idea, and sat up himself.

"Okay, _angel_ ," he said to her, "We're almost to Omega. You ever been there?"

The green eyes swivelled to him, with their own question. Zaeed quickly realised what he had said was stupid.

"Never mind," he said, before she could answer, "Memory. Sorry. What you need to know is that it's dangerous. Gangs, mercenaries, scum in general. It's a barrel of laughs when you're not being chased, because every two bit criminal thinks they're Blasto or something, but for us, it's not going to be any fun."

Shepard frowned. "I know _about_ Omega... for some reason," she said, "By reputation? If there's a safe place there, I would be surprised."

Zaeed reached over and grabbed on of the datapads. "We don't know if your captors survived that little surprise we left them," he continued, "But we're going to assume they did. That means there's only one place that's safe for you, until Cerberus and maybe the Alliance show up."

He tapped at the datapad, and turned it back to her.

"This is Afterlife," he said, "It's a nightclub, but it's also what passes as the centre of government. It's owned by Aria T'Loak, Queen of Omega. She plays court up on the main floor. Below is the VIP area. That's where we'll be safe. Aria won't tolerate mercenaries shooting up her club, but under no circumstances will you or I go up to the main floor. If she saw either of us, she would want to know what the hell we were doing there."

Shepard seemed to accept that logic. "The Queen of Omega and the dead Spectre," she said, "Yeah, not having that conversation."

Zaeed grunted with amusement. "Yeah, bad day for us if we have to explain that one," he said, "So we'll enter at the VIP entrance. It's unmonitored by VIs but heavily guarded. There's an omnitool in the box below your seat, stick it on. It's on the map there. There are armed bouncers at the door. If we're separated, you get there. Tell the bouncers that Jaroot said you could get in."

An eyebrow raised, as she pulled out the omnitool and put it on her left wrist. "Who is Jaroot?" Shepard asked.

"A salarian pimp who liked to drink," Zaeed said, "He used to run with Aria's crew, way back when she was just getting started. He's been dead for centuries. His name is just a pass phrase now, but if you think they doubt your word, joke about how he might turn green from grey if he keeps up his drinking habit."

Shepard's lip curled in disgust, probably at the pimp part of that explanation, but she nodded to show that she'd rely on that information if the time came. Which had spectacular effects on her hair. Zaeed felt a pang of want, but kicked it down in his head, and pointed to a locker at the back wall of the shuttle.

"That's your weapons locker," he said, "You'll find a Viper and a Piranha in there. Grab them. We'll be docking in a few minutes."

The black jellyfish shape of the station and its red glow was looming large in the forward window, as Feron chattered with a traffic controller about where they were going to put in.

"Piranha?" Shepard inquired.

Zaeed blinked. He had forgotten that she had missed the last year and a half or so of weapons development, on top of everything else. That she remembered what a Viper was seemed promising, at least.

"Automatic shotgun," Zaeed replied, "Tears through vorcha like paper. You're going to need it where we're going."

* * *

The Tuhi docks were a hive-like structure of shuttlepads, open to space if not for the mass effect fields and emergency blast doors keeping atmosphere inside them. It was the closest dock to Afterlife save for Aria's own, and only served small craft. Heavy shuttles at the largest.

The ship landed in its usual place, in a darkened bay with only red emergency lighting. Like so much of Omega. Zaeed was a regular on the station, and his reputation preceded him. That bought him a small but very convenient berth, especially so if one wanted to avoid the rabble. Unfortunately, it wasn't the rabble he was facing this time. It was the others; anyone of rank in the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack also had access to the dock.

There were advantages and disadvantages to using that particular entryway.

Aria's personal forces controlled it tightly. There was no fighting there without upsetting her. That meant Zaeed could get Shepard onto the station without being immediately ambushed, or blown up on the landing pad. Being the closest to Afterlife also greatly reduced the travel time required through the areas that fighting wouldn't cause Aria upset.

On the down side, if the Broker had enough information put out, his cats-paws could make them almost immediately. The corridors of his ship were monitored; if some of his servers survived, he might even have pictures of Shepard, albeit in armour head-to-toe, that he could put out there. Zaeed wasn't sure if the Broker would even want her alive at this point. A single shot out of the dark could end everything. Well, not a single one. Shepard did have pretty good shields built into her suit.

Shepard herself had the helmet back on, somehow twisting that huge back-length flow of hair up to fit inside it. When the doors opened, she stepped out into the small bay first, Viper raised. She checked the corners, and when she was satisfied there was no enemy waiting, she knelt with the barrel pointed straight at the only exit; the elevator door.

Zaeed felt a certain unease clutch his insides, as if he had just discovered something. She had just executed a perfect sweep of the room. How could she remember that but not her own name? What the hell had the Broker been doing to her?

"Easy, angel," he said, patting her on the shoulder, "This is part of Aria's turf. No one can touch us here. At least, as long as Aria doesn't find out we're here. Which she won't, as long as we don't hang around too long. Thank your lucky stars that the Broker isn't likely to tell her about it, you'd be far more valuable to her than him." Alliance politics being what they were at that moment.

Shepard relaxed a little, lowering her weapon and standing up, but her eyes didn't move off the door. "Gotcha," she said, "What next?"

Zaeed turned to Feron, standing at his maximum height and crossing his arms.

"Cerberus thanks you for your service," he said, "Payment will be wired to your account on Illium. Best you get lost now, before things get hairy."

The drell blinked, getting the drift immediately. Cerberus meant human. Not that Zaeed was a supremacist, he generally didn't trust anyone unless he knew them very well. Aliens were just harder to know. There was also another problem; Feron was a true mercenary. Politically, it wasn't wise to keep the alien around. Practically, who knew what his real allegiance was. He couldn't be seen with them. It would raise questions.

"I've got a ship waiting down on Fumi," Feron said, walking to the elevator, "See you in another life, Zaeed."

"You'll be waiting a long time if you want to see me in the next life, Feron," Zaeed replied, "Good luck, frogman."

The doors closed and the drell disappeared. The whirring of the motors told that he had left.

"Shouldn't we have went with him?" Shepard asked, her helmet finally pointed in his direction, "Or better yet, we could have used his help."

"Feron's a spy, not a soldier," Zaeed shrugged, "Besides, I need to talk to you before we head out there."

Shepard's helmet tilted. "About what?" she asked.

"Batarians," Zaeed replied, pointing at her, "You fly off the handle when you see them. That's all well and dandy if we're somewhere else, but you've got to control it here."

The black armoured former Spectre waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever," she said, "I'll try not to get us killed. But if one of those four-eyed freaks steps up to the plate, I'm sending him to hell. You haven't seen what I've seen."

Zaeed drew his lips back in an annoyed grimace. "I guess that will have to do," he said slowly, "In fact, if you keep it to annoyances rather than being indiscriminate, that might help us. But I will end you if I end up being shot at by every batarian on the station because you couldn't keep your cool. Is that clear?"

He didn't like having to issue that threat, it tore at him a little and made him doubt he could do it, but he was sure to show absolutely none of that in his tone or posture.

"As crystal," Shepard replied flatly.

"Good," Zaeed said, "Sling that Viper and let's get going. Feron should be clearing the dockyards now."

Shepard did as she was told, collapsing the rifle into its carry-form and hanging it off the maglock on her leg. She quickly checked that the shotgun, hung off the small of her back, was snug, before nodding to Zaeed to lead the way. He couldn't help but give a small chuckle as he walked on. She was so military, it was funny.

The elevator ride was short. Less than a minute in near-pitch black, followed by a large concourse area bathed in brighter red light than the dock bay had. The usual guards were about. Mostly turians, in dark grey and bronze coloured armour, armed with assault rifles. Aria's people, under Gavorn. A few people coming and going, but no one of consequence for the mission.

"Follow me," Zaeed said, "No talking. No weapons. If someone stops us, let me do the talking."

A single nod came. Again, good enough.

Zaeed paced forward; quick, long steps. Anyone who looked on would see that he was in a hurry. He eyed anyone who got near too, and not with a friendly smile, but a scowl. Shepard was hot on his heels, albeit having to half jog to keep up as he was taller than she was. The idea was simple. Nothing unusual to be seen. Just his usual, pissed off self, coming back from a mission. Not a time to stop him for a chat.

They made it to the doors to the Tuhi side passages, making it past the first two sets of guards unhindered, when they opened.

In stepped four figures from the gloom beyond. All four were in combat armour, painted blue and white. Blue Suns logos on the front. The rear two were guards, having full-face helmets. The one in the middle was a human woman, with neck-length hair dyed metallic red. The one in front was a batarian with rust coloured skin that faded into near-white on the edges of his face. The batarian was no stranger.

Shit, Zaeed thought, it's Tarak. Leader of the Blue Suns on Omega. A perfect storm had just landed right on his boots. Someone who definitely would stop to talk to him and would even follow if he refused. Someone who might set off Shepard's murderous hatred of batarians. And someone the Broker might have already put on their trail.

"This fucking thing," Tarak said, stopping in the doorway and tapping on his omnitool, "It says I have a high priority message, but I can't access it. Jentha, fix this!"

"Can't, sir," replied the human female, "It's the structures around here. Hardened against EMP attacks. Some places block the signals."

The bastard wasn't moving, instead blocking the way and continuing to fiddle with his omnitool. Zaeed was sure that he had noticed that he was stopping their exit, and didn't care. His second had even began to stare at them, like she expected them to get the hell out of the way first. Expect there was no real way to do that. The corridor was too narrow. It was a side exit, which was the whole point.

Shepard's hands were held behind her back, seemingly at a military rest but in actual fact ready to pull her shotgun out. Her tolerance for the situation was decreasing rapidly.

Only thing to do was dive in.

"Problems, Tarak?" Zaeed said loudly, "You always were too angry with your comms. That has a mind of its own. Sooner you learn that, the better."

The batarian had looked up from his omnitool, and his eyes widened.

"Zaeed?" Tarak said, "What are you doing here?"

"Going for a drink with my friend here," Zaeed replied, thumbing to Shepard beside him, "You're in the way."

"Am I?" Tarak said, "Or are you?"

The guards took that to mean that they should step forward menacingly, which might have been a threat to someone other than Zaeed. To say nothing of how quickly the Angel of Death would have ended their lives.

But Tarak's intentions were not in line with what his subordinates had assumed, and before Shepard could begin reaping, he waved them off.

"Relax you idiots," he said, "Don't you see that tattoo? Zaeed Massani is one of us." Shepard's helmet swung, as she looked up at him. At the Blue Suns tattoo on his neck.

"Used to be," Zaeed replied, "Vido fucked it all up. Not one of you any more."

"Yeah, he's a real asshole," Tarak shrugged, "But his days are numbered. Dal'serah and Vosque are pissed off with him. Keeps getting the west branch into fights with Cerberus. Hear you work for them now. Really hurts my feelings as a batarian." The alien laughed heartily.

It was a good sign. There was no way in hell the Blue Suns had gotten the bounty yet, if they ever would.

"I work for me," Zaeed lied, "Now, are you going to get out of my way?"

Tarak snorted. In the batarian fashion, he made a ritualistic swing of the head to indicate dominance. He was a Terminus batarian, Zaeed knew, and he didn't really buy into all that traditional crap that the former Hegemony types did. But that didn't stop him from calling on his people's culture when it suited. With that display complete, probably made for the benefit of his batarian guards, he shoved past, pushing Zaeed against the bulkhead.

"You're getting out of my way," Tarak said politely, "See how easy it is?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Zaeed, crossing his arms again, "What next? We going to get our trousers open, see who's packing the bigger weapon?"

Tarak laughed, and waved his companions to move past, which they did. "I like you Zaeed," he said, "Sure you don't want to come back, help me scalp Vido?"

A snowball's chance in hell. The offer wasn't anywhere near serious. And the whole disagreement between Zaeed and Vido, the founders of the Blue Suns, was over the likes of Tarak. Batarian involvement in the company. It was profitable, but it brought the whole corporation low.

"Na, that bastard is all mine," said Zaeed, baring his teeth, "Good luck getting to him first."

The batarian made a batarian smirk, and began walking off at a casual pace.

"See you then," Tarak said, waving over his shoulder, "Maybe next time, I won't be so polite."

Zaeed couldn't reply before the omnitool on the man's wrist beeped loudly once.

"About time!" Tarak said to Jentha, "It's loading up. Slowly, but surely. Hopefully it's just another one of Vido's fuckups, and not something to cancel our exercises for..."

"Yes sir," Jentha replied with a smile.

A terrible suspicion fell over Zaeed, setting his blood on fire; that the message was from the Broker.

He took Shepard by the arm and rushed her out the door, turning the corner onto the dark side street as fast as possible. Luckily, it was completely empty until where the main entrance to the docks opened out onto the central avenue. All doors were closed too. It was late by the standard station time. There were no vendors operating. Good.

"We're out of Aria's complex," he said to the woman, "Viper out. Now."

Shepard complied immediately, the semi-auto rifle expanding into her hands. Again, she took a knee and aimed at the door they had just come out of. Clever girl, Zaeed thought, she had drawn exactly the same conclusion he had. He grabbed his own Avenger off his back, and cocked it to put the first heatsink into the chamber.

"ZAEED!" came a shout from the corridor into the docks. Followed by the sounds of running footsteps. Tarak knew.

No time to lose. His mind focused on survival at once. Plucking an incendiary grenade off of his belt, Zaeed pulled the pin and tossed it straight through the doorway. The entrance was engulfed in flame hot enough to melt steel, sparks of white-hot material sparking from multiple points. Good enough to delay his old colleague.

"Move!" he ordered, pointing in the direction away from the main entrance.

Shepard stood and broke into a run, far faster than Zaeed would have thought possible. So fast that he couldn't exactly keep up. No wonder she was a Spectre, he thought, as he plodded along behind her through the twisting route. She came to a halt at the next intersection, again dropping to her knee. This time however, she began cracking off shots around the corner at targets unseen. A whirlwind of shots came in reply, poorly aimed, almost all of them too high and getting higher.

Zaeed joined Shepard to find that the next intersection to the right was filled with vorcha, wearing the colours of the Blood Pack. At least twenty, if not thirty of them, spraying with their submachineguns, barely a tenth of the shots going anywhere near their position. Better yet, Shepard was putting them down with absolute precision. Headshots, one after the other, no chance for the vorcha's disgusting healing abilities to kick in. By the time she had run through her magazine, half the aliens were dead and the other had scrambled for cover.

Shepard cocked her rifle, reloading it, and turned her head to him. "Where to?" she asked, the red visor of her helmet aimed right at him.

Zaeed grinned like a maniac, taking great pleasure in what he had just seen. But they had to move quickly. Tarak would be close behind, and where there was Blood Pack vorcha on Omega, Blood Pack krogan were not far behind.

"So much for the shotgun," he said, raising his own rifle, "Another three blocks down, same direction."

"Affirmative," Shepard replied. She broke into her sprint again, causing Zaeed to groan inwardly. He followed as best he could.

They met no resistance, but more and more, saw citizens fleeing from the main avenue. This was soon joined by the sound of gunfire, which grew and grew in the few minutes it took to complete the first part of their journey. Shepard, inevitably, got there first. This time, she didn't kneel. She pressed herself up against the corner, and peeked around.

"What the hell?" she said, her voice carrying to Zaeed via the comms.

"What is is?" he asked, reaching her and stacking up behind her.

"The Blue Suns are fighting vorcha," Shepard replied, "Lots of them."

Zaeed looked around for himself. A Blue Suns platoon was being faced down at the square beyond, pouring out of a shuttle that must have only just left the docks a minute before. Not just by vorcha, but by krogan. Centurions with their glowing ablative armoured plates hovering around their bodies laid down heavy fire into the ranks of the vorcha meatshield, while the Blood Pack krogan were massing to make a charge of their own. The muzzle flashes were so frequent that they merged together into a single continuous light source, allowing every gory detail to be seen.

"I don't believe it," said Zaeed, "The Broker called all of them. At the same time." And now they were fighting each other for what had to be a huge reward.

"You nuked his ship," Shepard said, amusement rising in her voice, "What did you expect?"

"More sense from the being that's supposed to be the galaxy's big dog information dealer," Zaeed replied, pulling back from the edge as stray rounds began impacting on the ground nearby.

"Do we have to go through them?" Shepard asked, hefting her rifle up.

"No," Zaeed said, "There's an aircar lot down to the left. There's transport waiting for us. Since we lost Tarak, and no one over there is going to notice us with that fight going on, we can use that. If we hadn't, we'd be humping it through the tunnels for an hour or so."

"Then let's go," Shepard said, her head back around the corner, "Those krogan are going to charge. We won't get a better distraction." As if to illustrate her point, the guttural roar of the warriors' attack went up, accompanied by the deep barking of shotguns that the krogan favour. The sound of heavy weapons firing in response was the cue to go, Zaeed decided.

"With me!" he said, before crossing the intersection at a quick pace, not quick enough to be noticed in anyone's peripheral vision. Shepard didn't sprint ahead this time, following behind at the same speed.

The walk away from the fight was tense, but as with much of Omega, the blocks were irregular in size, allowing them to take a few twisting turns out of harm's way after passing another intersection or two. The aircar parking lot wasn't far either, and was one of many that Zaeed knew were dotted around the area of the docks. In fact, he had placed getaway vehicles in three others, partially as decoys in case someone was monitoring him, partially so that they would have multiple directions they could flee in if compromised seriously. This was just the closest one. He was buoyed with every step towards it. The plan was working, more or less.

The lot was protected by a strong kinetic barrier twenty feet high, the pedestrian access only opened with a passcard. It was for high end vehicles, owned by the wealthy inhabitants of this part of the station. Mostly Aria's top goons and those of the PMCs. The barrier glowed an angry orange, becoming more apparent as they got closer.

Zaeed tapped the passcard against the barrier, and a gap large enough to accommodate even an elcor appeared. Shepard rushed through first, in among the luxury aircars and limos, weapon at rest. Zaeed himself stepped in and tapped the passcard again, closing the door. They were safe from anything but the most concentrated fire, for the moment.

"Which one is it?" Shepard asked, her helmet plate sliding over the top of her head to reveal her face.

"Hot red one," Zaeed replied, "The Ferrari." The stolen Ferrari from Bekenstein, he was tempted to clarify. Perks of being part of a 'terrorist group' in the eyes of Citadel law. Theft wasn't a big deal.

Shepard looked around, and frowned in the... cute way that she did.

"There are three red Ferraris here," she replied.

Massani grinned at the joke she hadn't noticed yet.

"Yeah, but there's only one with the registration '007'," Zaeed replied, pointing, "In human numbers." Someone in Cerberus was a real joker.

Shepard rolled her eyes. "You remind me of someone," she said, "I can't remember who." She shrugged it off, and her faceplate slid back into place.

They negotiated the lines of vehicles carefully, although they could have just stepped onto and over most of them without great effort. Avoiding alarms was the idea, although Zaeed knew that on Omega, worse things could happen from interfering with someone's car. He'd seen everything from bombs to silent alarms that summoned gun drones. On Omega, that sort of preventive measure just made good sense. The latter was far more likely than the former here, as the lot had scanners that detected most explosives.

"Here we are," Zaeed said, taking out the keys from a back pocket.

Without warning, everything went dark. He missed the slot for the key entirely, cursing. He had probably scratched the paint. He looked around, trying to see what light had gone out. But it wasn't just the red ones on the floor. The entire quarter of the district seemed to have lost power. Including the kinetic barriers. A chill went down Zaeed's back. Someone had cut the power.

Shepard realised the significance of that before he did, and dragged him to the ground, holding up her finger to quiet him. She lay on top of him, which would have been very pleasant to Zaeed if it wasn't for the accompanying sounds. A whining rumble of shuttle engines. The clank of touchdowns. A staccato of _thump-thump-thump_ that increased in volume, with the occasion bursts of comm chatter. The roar of the shuttles dusting off again.

They weren't alone any more.

"Zaeed Massani!" called an artificially loud female voice, in sari, "This is the Eclipse. We know you're in there. Your friend too. Jaroth is directing more forces to join us. You're fucked. Come out and we won't harm you. We'll leave that to the Broker, whatever he has planned for you."

Nothing nice.

The bitch, Zaeed thought. It was guaranteed that they had mechs and probably biotic vanguards too. The Eclipse always were the most dangerous of the merc companies, in his opinion. And now, they were hunting him. So much for the plan's success.

Shepard shifted her weight off of Zaeed, and moved to aim. Before she could, a barrage of shots ripped through the cars around them for a couple of seconds, sending her back down into cover again. No joy.

"That was just a warning!" the asari continued, "If we have to go in there and drag you out, I promise you it will be painful. Get your ass out here, with your hands up and your weapons left behind!"

Zaeed sat up against the aircar, and looked over at Shepard. She was in the process of taking her helmet off. No point hiding now, he thought. Her hair flowed out again, untwisting under its own weight. It set off his protective instinct again, except this time he was fully aware of it. And he decided to use it.

"Let me tell you something," he said, "Surrender is not an option."

Shepard shone a dazzling, canine smile back at him, her green eyes ablaze.

"I agree," she said, "We won't agree to their surrender."

They stared at each other for a little while, before bursting out with chest-splitting laughter, which carried and echoed around the lot. They clutched onto each other mostly just to stay upright. The absurdity of the entire situation seemed complete. Why not laugh yourself to death?

"A girl after my own heart," Zaeed laughed.

"What the hell!" the asari beyond exclaimed, "They're crazy. Troopers, mechs, forward!"

Another barrage began, shattering the glass of the Ferrari and ripping it along the sides. Their kinetic barriers flared, as some of the bullets came through the cover entirely. Red paint chips and glass dust covered them. Time to do something stupid.

Zaeed got up on his knee, and let loose with his Avenger. It was near pointless; the Eclipse had complete superiority of numbers. But what else was he going to do? Die in Shepard's arms? That didn't sound like the end of the story of Zaeed Massani to him.

The LOKI mechs lumbered forward straight into his shots, their plastic casings breaking off like eggshells from the stresses. They were tough little things despite it, dragging themselves along after losing limbs, determined to kill. But they weren't the real threat. The mercs had barriers. Not good ones, for the most part, but good enough to give them a chance to get behind something, even those who were advancing straight up the access lanes. At least, protection from his Avenger.

Shepard joined the show seconds later, a blue icon on her Viper's status screen indicating she had activated a disruptor mod.

The Eclipse troopers began to die. Shot straight through the chest, shot in the eye socket, those that didn't get into cover were ended instantaneously. After that, anything that stuck out even a few centimeters received Shepard's attention. Shoulders not crouched low enough, legs not brought in far enough, even the barrels of weapons. She emptied all thirty six shots in the weapon from all six heatsinks in minutes. If she missed a single one, Zaeed didn't see it.

He understood perfectly why she had been a Spectre. And why Cerberus wanted... no, _needed_ her. This wasn't a mere soldier. This was a supernatural force.

The reasons became obvious to the Eclipse too, as they were forced to stop firing. Just before Zaeed's shields failed completely. Shepard's were of higher quality, but couldn't be that much better, because she ducked down hastily, making damn sure she couldn't be hit directly. Not that it would have mattered much. The Ferarri was now a wreck.

"You want to give up now?!" Zaeed roared, firing a burst blindly over the top, "There's plenty more where that came from!"

They were trying to take Shepard alive. Or else they would have blown up the whole lot, just to be sure she was dead. There was a slim, very slim, chance that he and she could make it out of this alive. But it required the Eclipse to be taunted into attacking stupidly. If they wouldn't do so themselves.

A car soared through the air, and landed behind them.

"Fuck this," the asari voice said, "Commandos, forward! Steady, don't rush!"

Zaeed's stomach dropped, forcing him to clench his teeth. Their odds of survival also dropped. To zero. That's the thing about asari, he thought to himself, piss them off and they almost always want to flay you with their minds.

Other cars flew, flipped and chucked by the biotic throws of the asari matrons now advancing through. Some of them were even held in place as moving barricades, screeching from the metal on metal with the ground.

Zaeed began to look around for a way out. There was no way in hell he was going to wait to be torn apart by warp fields. Shepard tapped him on the shoulder, but he ignored her, still looking. She slapped his shoulder again.

"What is it?" he growled.

Her helmeted head tossed a motion in the direction behind her, and she pointed at the ground. There was a vent. Large enough to fit a person. Well, a human at least. It would be a squeeze for him too.

"How convenient," Zaeed joked, "But how do we get over there?"

"One at a time," Shepard replied, "I go, you cover, then you run while I cover."

"And they're blocking their own view with those floating aircars..." Zaeed said, sending a glance over to make sure the asari were still doing just that. He gave a thumb to express his approval, and shifted so he could stand all the way up. And set his rifle to fire incendiary rounds.

"If I get hit, you go on without me," he said, "That's an order."

"Three, two, one..." said Shepard, not commenting on his order, before she sprinted across the open access lane and through the next partially filled spaces.

Zaeed stood just as she bolted, and let loose with his Avenger on full auto, spraying across the floating cars, hoping to set off a H2 fuel cell or two. Whether or not he would have been successful in that, he wouldn't find out.

From behind, a ripping _brrrrrrrrrpt_ sounded so loudly that it felt like the vibrations were shaking his bones inside of his muscles. A stream of shots, large shots, fanned out over his head and into the cars. A ripple of explosions followed, as the explosive shells found the fuel far more easily than his rifle. The asari were flung back, onto their asses. Zaeed followed a second later, as more explosions and the sound of shuttle engines came again.

No, not shuttle engines, gunship engines.

The machines hovered over the lot and strafed the Eclipse position with rockets. Worse, walkers and light vehicles began appearing, the former crunching over the remains of the aircars towards the Eclipse. The latter coming to surround Zaeed from both sides.

He panicked. Grabbing his rifle once more, he crouched down, hoping to avoid detection, and searched for Shepard, praying to every god he could think of that she was still alive. He looked over at the vent, and found it open. Shepard was nowhere to be seen. She had followed his order.

The Angel of Death had escaped death for another day.

So relieved, Zaeed fell to his ass once again, and looked on at the battle with a certain sense of resignation. His part in this was over, for the moment.

The Eclipse too started to flee before the enemy, their full strength far from the place of the battle. Too far to expect reinforcements in time. They withdrew under the protection of biotic barriers, but had lost all their mechs and no small number of troopers in the process. Nothing interesting about that. Zaeed would have called a retreat even sooner than the asari had.

As for the newcomers, they were all human, which was interesting. More so was their identity. Dark grey and blue armour, with a turquoise light scheme and marksmen goggles on every trooper. Heavy troopers with ablative shields carried like ancient warriors used to. Designated marksmen with Incisor rifles. Riesig walkers and Mantis gunships, all bearing the name of their group.

CAT6.

They really were new, Zaeed thought to himself. For one, he'd barely heard of them, for another, they were acting like this on Omega. Heads would haved very possibly rolled, under different circumstances. But as it stood, this was all going down as the Blue Suns and Blood Pack looked like they were going to get into a full blown turf war. He couldn't deny a certain level of pride in having caused that particular piece of history.

It wasn't long before a weapon muzzle was pressed up against the base of his skull, and a black-clad figure appeared before him. Not like the others. No LEDs to indicate enhanced vision systems or barriers. Just jet black armour, that looked lighter than what the mercs were wearing. A helmet was removed, revealing a young woman, younger than Shepard, with short strawberry blonde hair, hazel eyes that leaned towards green, and a cheery smile.

"Hi Zaeed," the woman said, "I'm Kelly."

Zaeed cocked an eyebrow. She knew who he was, that was no surprise. He wasn't exactly famous, but he wasn't off the radar either. Especially on Omega. Her attitude was the problem.

"Hello," he growled back, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Where's Shepard, Zaeed?" 'Kelly' continued, "She's in a great deal of danger. I'd like to talk to her, before your Cerberus employers do. We can cooperate here, right?"

The soldier behind Zaeed gave him a nudge in the back of the head with whatever weapon was being held against it, which sent a spike of pain through him. Kelly scowled at the person behind, and the pain stopped. A humanitarian, Zaeed thought, just great.

"Oh, I'm all about cooperation," he replied sarcastically, "But I don't think talking to her will do you any good."

"Why's that?" 'Kelly' asked.

"She doesn't remember who she is," Zaeed replied, leaning back onto his hands, "Except for the fighting bit and the hating batarians bit. Especially that."

Kelly remained silent, clearly considering the implications of that... or perhaps considering if he was lying. She did seem like an astute young woman. She had organised whatever the hell this intervention was, after all. He knew she didn't have much time to hang around though, and it was shortly clear she knew this too. So she'd either shoot him, or...

"Take him," she commanded.

Zaeed found himself seized under the arm by two men, and dragged into the back of an airtruck.

* * *

 **Codex: Zaeed Massani**

The date of Zaeed Massani's birth is unknown, due to records losses that occurred during the 2139-45 Cold War. The man himself has never given the same date of birth on any documentation available to any single government. What is known is that he was born in the United States around 2130-35, in New York Megapolis, to two service workers. He did not fare well at school, and joined the US Army in 2155. He quickly found himself in his element in the military, pushing himself to the limit but earning a reputation as a loner to most, with the exceptions being few and far between. This changed to a large degree over the course of two years, and he began to cultivate good relationships with the more hardened of recruits. This saw him placed in forward reconnaissance roles with similarly minded individuals.

In 2157, the First Contact War began. Unlike the bulk of national forces that saw combat under the command of the Systems Alliance during that conflict, he did not fight at Shanxi. Instead, his unit, the 525th Intelligence Brigade, was assigned to deep space reconnaissance operations in cooperation with a wolfpack from the Navy's Third Fleet. These operations began after the victory at Shanxi, and would continue for the month between the end of that battle and the armistice. The files on those ops remain classified under the Alliance's Thirty Year rule, and may remain so even after 2187, but it is known that Zaeed successfully reached the Terminus Systems during his tour. The chaos of that region of space, especially compared with its great wealth of resources and the possibilities for development, gave him an idea for exploiting it.

In 2160, he left the Alliance military and co-founded the Blue Suns Corporation, a private military company for contract in the areas of asset protection, pirate interdiction and convoy escorts. His partner was on Vido Santiago, another US veteran of the First Contact War. The company's intended client base was businesspeople looking to make money out of the Terminus and those already doing so looking to reduce the risk to their investments. The Blue Suns became hugely successful, expanded rapidly to become the largest mercenary group in the Terminus registered with the Citadel, and outstripped only in real terms by the Blood Pack's legions of vorcha.

By 2165 however, the company began to suffer a manpower shortage as a direct result of its success. It needed more warm bodies to fill the ranks, but could not find them among humans. This was exacerbated by the human entry into the Citadel market in 2165, followed by large grants of land in colonies, which were far safer and far more immediately profitable to humans looking to make their way in the galaxy.

Santiago suggested recruiting aliens, and even began the process by bringing in well known freelancers of many species. Massani agreed that turians were a good addition to the company, and even krogan in limited numbers, but the two co-founders came to a clash over the presence of batarians. By this point, batarian terrorism and piracy in the Skyllian Verge had begun and was on the rise. Massani refused to allow enemies of humanity to be recruited into his corporation en masse, and attempted to rally other leading officers. Santiago shot him in the head for the trouble, and took overall control of the corporation, placing a batarian, Dal'Serah, as figurehead CEO.

Massani survived the gunshot to the head, and fell into freelancer work himself after almost killing himself by alcohol poisoning. Vowing to return to the top of his game, he began taking ever more risky jobs, eventually becoming an agent of the Shadow Broker. It was during this time that his exploits became legendary within the mercenary community, particularly after his hijacking and destruction of the turian frigate Verrikan.

Soon after that incident, he was contacted by Cerberus agents looking to recruit him. They knew all about his betrayal at the hands of Santiago, and approved of his 'stand' to keep the Blue Suns as human as possible. They were also aware of his status as an agent of the Broker. The Confederation of the Terminus, the independent human worlds forming their own government, were just emerging. Good operatives were needed, more than Cerberus had to hand. Unable to turn down the paycheck, which was considerable, or the chance to fight for what he saw as a more aggressive human policy, Massani agreed.

He remained an agent of the Shadow Broker, part of his job being to spy on the information trader's activities while carrying them out, reporting to Miranda Lawson alone. The Broker, for his part, allowed him to take jobs from Cerberus, unaware that he had actually joined the organisation. Cerberus became his main source of employment.

During the Eden Prime War, Massani was heavily involved in the Terminus campaign carried out by Cerberus to ease the way of human-quarian Versailles Pact forces through the region to the Perseus Veil, with the Shadow Broker even providing intelligence on pirate bases to facilitate the job. This cooperation between Cerberus and the Broker ended immediately after the end of the war. The Broker seemed to shift focus away from the Reapers, just as the secret of their existence was being proved to the world. This greatly worried the Illusive Man, who ordered Massani to continue his cover and get as deep into the Broker's organisation as possible. It was this that allowed the eventual rescue of Shepard in 2185.

 **Codex: C-Sec Inquiry – 2183/4**

In 2183/4, an inquiry was held at the request of the human councillor of the Citadel Council into the assassination and/or kidnapping of Jane Regina Shepard, Council Spectre and Commander of the Systems Alliance Navy. Its primary object was to determine if C-Sec were in any way responsible via negligence or malice for the incident.

From December to February, the inquiry heard evidence as to the conditions around Zakera Ward and the state of C-Sec forces there, transcripts of comms in the weeks leading up to the incident, crime data from the area, witness testimonials and cross examination of key parties. The inquiry eventually collapsed before its findings could be published officially, due to the intervention of three of the four other species councillors after it had begun. This was done to preserve the reputation of C-Sec at a critical time.

The findings were leaked days later. C-Sec was found to be partially responsible for the crime. Despite their huge losses to the geth, C-Sec had retained the ability to maintain law and order, primarily because their street roles were then being filled first with Alliance troops and later with the added assistance of Hierarchy military formations. However, no evidence of corruption or cooperation with the would-be assassins was found, and the security measures around Shepard's apartment were not so insignificant as to be easily discarded. The criminals used drones to carry out the lethal part of their attack, undetected by sensors placed streetside, the criminals not themselves being armed and posing as a legitimate business in operation. There were indeed units of both C-Sec and the Alliance Army stationed in the district of Shepard's residence, but these were found to be attending to other serious crimes at the time.

Despite this mostly exonerating the police forces of the Citadel, it caused outrage among the officers that any blame could be laid at their feet at all. The controversy resulted in the withdrawal of Alliance troops under CITFOR in March 2184, as cooperation between them and C-Sec became untenable until the recruitment of many humans to fill the empty places of those that were killed by the geth later that year.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: So Shepard arrives on Omega... and the mess begins. I always like Zaeed as a character. Obviously, this shines through in this chapter. Kelly too._

 _As always, codex requests or suggestions are always appreciated._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	5. Chapter 5: Kelly

**Chapter Five: Kelly**

The warehouse was almost empty for once, its former contents now being used to guard it, the overhead lighting free to reach the ground where before it was always in shadow. Only the walls had retained their dark tones. The scuff marks of walker treads on the concrete scored it from every corner, all headed to one direction.

The huge doorway that Kelly was walking through. Or, half-running through.

She had hoped to have time to do what needed to be done, but as she had ordered CAT6 to return to their base in Tuhi district, the fighting that had been raging all around had just stopped dead. Even the Eclipse had got a bloody nose on Kelly's own orders, yet their retaliation had not come. There were several possibilities about why this might have happened, all of them terrifying.

The mercs could have retreated to prepare for a station-wide assault. They could have agreed to stop fighting in order to share the prize. They could have expended so much materiel and so many of their number that they were weakened, which would also lead to Omega dropping into a war with itself as the smaller gangs and mercenary corporations vied for power.

Or, most horrific of all, Aria could have decided to intervene.

There wasn't time to lose. Kelly pointed to a spot in the middle of the floor, near the door. Behind her, grunting and breathing heavily, Zaeed Massani was dragged into view by two of her subordinates, a third supervising it. The bag over his head was grabbed and taken off, but his hands were kept bound. The man squinted, eyes adjusting to the changed light conditions, but otherwise seemed calm.

An act, Kelly knew. He was worried about something. Probably not himself, this couldn't have been the first time he had been captured like this. No doubt he had some confidence in being able to escape. She couldn't help but smirk at that.

The goggled Lieutenant Gardner looked at her over Massani's shoulder expectantly.

"These two, out," Kelly commanded, "Lieutenant, you stay. And close the doors."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Gardner, waving at the two enlisted troopers to get the hell out. They jogged out at once, knowing full well the Executive Officer didn't have much patience. Although that was simply a facade created by Kelly herself to better control them.

"Why not make it just the two of us?" Zaaed suggested, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "I'm sure we can find some way to entertain ourselves."

Kelly couldn't help but roll her eyes. Gardner spluttered a chuckle, shaking his head. "A real gentleman, this one," he said, "You sure you don't want him beaten?"

"I _am_ a gentleman, and I wasn't implying anything bad by what I said," Zaeed insisted, "There's really no need to have me in restraints. You got me. As for beating me, if it makes you feel better..." The mercenary-come-terrorist shrugged, thinning his lips in apathy.

The man was attempting to provoke a negative response. Kelly reckoned it was to buy time, either for Shepard to escape or for the questioning to be interrupted by a third party. Cerberus, the mercs, it didn't really matter much.

"I'm in a rush, so here's what you need to know," Kelly said, "Gardner and I are from Langley, Virginia."

The mercenary's eyes lit up with amusement, and he broke into almost hysterical laughter.

"Civvies! God damn!" he cried, "I thought you guys had gone the way of the vinyl record; still around for style but useful to practically no one."

"The Terminus is a different story to Citadel space," Gardner growled, "We have a question we want answered."

"Yeah, you and every two-bit merc on the station," Zaeed replied, "You want Shepard. Let me save you the trouble: You can't have her. I have absolutely no idea where she is at the moment. Wouldn't tell you if I did. If you don't like it, I suggest you go out onto those streets and look for yourself. She'll find you eventually."

With a warm smile, Kelly noted his choice of words. She reached out touched his face.

"A gentleman doesn't lie to a lady, Zaeed," she said, looking up at him, "And an omission is too close to a lie for comfort. You don't know where Shepard is, _right now_ , but you do know where she will be soon. The rendezvous point with Cerberus has to be somewhere on Omega."

The man tilted his head, conceding the point.

"A gentleman doesn't betray his employer either," Zaeed said in response, "No one would ever hire me again."

Kelly snorted slightly at his lie. Zaeed Massani had ceased to be a true freelancer a long time ago.

"We know you're a Cerberus operative now," she said, "So much for being a gentleman."

Mr. Massani clearly had a soft spot for the fairer sex, as he became distracted by something other than her words. Perhaps in an exaggerated way for a purpose. She slapped him gently and playfully on the face, hoping to exploit it a little. He smiled back at her, eyes moving where they shouldn't regardless.

"Should I feel bad for lying to someone who lies about who they are constantly?" Zaeed replied, "Miss C.I.A.?"

"You feeling bad about lying can be arranged," Gardner said flatly, "And I won't feel bad about it at all."

Zaeed laughed out loud, turning his milky artificial eye at the lieutenant. "I look forward to your enhanced interrogation," he said, "It's been so long since I've been … interviewed by a human. Might be fun to see how far you've come in Alliance space."

Garder took a step forward at the prisoner, while Zaeed turned to square up to him. Kelly clicked her fingers and pointed beside her, and the lieutenant immediately came to heel, knowing his place well.

"Good dog," Zaeed joked at him, "Can you roll over too?"

"Go fuck yourself," Gardner growled.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Normally, I would let my friend here do what he was trained to do," she explained, "The dirty work of extracting every last piece of information we can from you. My colleague was right. This isn't Citadel space, and we aren't military. Unfortunately for us all, we don't have the time and we all know it. Unfortunate for us because you're unlikely to break before we're interrupted, and unfortunate for you because that makes you useless to us."

Zaeed stared at her, prepared for the inevitable in an admirable fashion. No fear, Kelly noted. Impressive.

"So what are you waiting for?" he asked, "I don't like getting shot, but it seems you've made up your mind. The waiting around is killing me."

"Interesting choice of words," Kelly said, "But there's something you either haven't considered, or don't want us to consider."

"That this would go a whole lot quicker if you started shedding bits of your clothing?" Zaeed suggested hopefully, "I don't think I could resist if that happened, darling. Black is your colour, by the way."

Gardner punched the man in the side of the head, and he went down to his knees, jaw clenched with the pain. This was followed up by a kick to the side, failing to send Zaeed sprawling on the ground but properly expressing the displeasure required.

Exasperated, Kelly shook her head. Massani had recognised that provoking Gardner was far more easy than provoking her.

"The possibility that you want to consider is what happens if or when Aria discovers we have you," she said, "That won't be good news for us, but it'll be even less good news for you."

For once, Massani kept silent, just staring up at her with his mismatched eyes and scars. Kelly stared back, resisting the urge to make some sort of triumphal gesture. She had him, but letting him know it might undo the effort made.

"If Aria comes here, you're in for a world of hurt," he said, putting menace in his tone, "I'll tell her all she needs to know about your little operation here. Best keep me out of her hands, eh? If you can."

Build the urgency, Kelly thought, get him believing that the aliens are coming right now to tear him apart. It might even be true.

"We can't," Kelly replied, "CAT6 is our front organisation here, but very few are … from Langley. If Aria's soldiers show up in force, they won't fight. Can't spend money if you're dead."

"A perspective I'm sure you appreciate," Gardner added.

"And I suppose you're doing this pro bono?" Zaeed said, looking from the ceiling to Gardner. He earned another cuff around the head for that one, well deserved in this case. The man was still dodging the question with remarkable stubbornness.

The omnitool on Kelly's wrist lit up, indicating a comms request from the soldiers outside. She nodded to Gardner, sending a link to the request on his own omni, before opening the channel.

"Executive, our pickets have spotted a convoy of shuttles and gunships coming this way," came the report, "Marked with the Omega icon."

A cold sweat began dripping down the back of Kelly's neck unbidden. It was too early. Way too early.

"Gavorn," Gardner said, "I hope."

"I think the time for hoping is over," Kelly said, before addressing her other subordinate over the comms, "Do not resist. Give the shuttles a landing pattern, and get the walker crews sitting on top of their vehicles, where the gunships can see them."

A relieved affirmative confirmed that the mercs outside were in no mood to fight off the foremost power on the station, even if they had had the numbers.

"It's Aria isn't it," Massani said gloomily, "Damn."

Kelly nodded as she shut off her omni again.

"You have a choice," she said, "Either you give us the information now and the Alliance gets to Shepard before your people, or you don't, and who knows who gets their first. Aria could get the intel out of you, or use everyone on the whole station to find Shepard first. Cerberus doesn't exactly have the resources to compete with that."

Massani hung his head, in annoyance more than anything else if Kelly was any judge. He hadn't foreseen this eventuality. He was trapped and he knew it. He just hadn't accepted it yet.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "If I tell you where Shepard is going now, you won't be able to get to her. Aria is coming, and where Shepard is going ... complicates matters where avoiding the Queen is concerned."

That was all the clue that Kelly needed. "Afterlife," she said, "Shepard is going to Afterlife."

The Cerberus agent raised his brow in surprise. Faux-surprise, perhaps.

"VIP Section," Massani nodded, "We're meant to meet with whoever gets sent to pick her up. Lawson and a team of deep cover spooks probably. No doubt their arrival is delayed because of the mess we made coming in. Assuming negotiations with the Alliance went well, they'd also be tagging along. Although whoever they sent will probably be bent in half by Lawson's biotics when she finds out you're trying to steal Shepard from us."

"She isn't yours to begin with," Gardner said.

Massani let out a laugh. "Isn't she?" he said, "Congratulations. You know where Shepard is going. Except you're stuck here in this bunker with no way to get to her before Aria or Cerberus does."

Gardner grumbled incoherently for a second. "He's right," the lieutenant said, "We take off in a shuttle, those gunships are chasing us the whole way, and Afterlife's GARDIAN batteries take us down before we can get close enough. To say nothing of the garrison."

Kelly spread her hands, working out the alternative in her head. "We don't have to go there ourselves," she thought aloud, "We just have to get her into friendly hands. And there's one person more friendly to Shepard than almost anyone else on this station."

Gardner glared at her, as expected. "We were told not to involve him," he said, "Too much personal baggage."

"No choice," Kelly replied, "It's either we break that part of our orders or Shepard could fall into Aria's hands."

She opened her omnitool again, and began typing a message to be encrypted into the background of a more innocuous transmission. Nothing too long, just the most important facts. That the person receiving this would likely be extremely surprised to hear that Shepard was alive couldn't be avoided. That he might even be angry at being left out of the loop, even for a few hours, couldn't be either.

"Who is this mysterious operative of yours?" Massani asked, "He better be good. If Aria gets Shepard, there's no way the Illusive Man is going to let that slide. I'm putting my trust in you here."

"Probably not a good idea," Gardner replied, "He isn't one of ours at all. It's Archangel."

Massani winced. "Archangel's a myth," he said, "Some name a bunch of vigilantes came up with to rally around. An 'I am Spartacus' sort of thing."

"He's very real," Kelly said, finishing the message, "It's Garrus Vakarian."

"The turian?" Massani said, eyes widening, "I've read the assessment report about him. Good choice."

"Actually, he's working for the Hierarchy out here," Kelly said, "So, depending on who is with him, the secret of Shepard's survival might be out by the end of the day. That won't be good."

"Better than Aria parading her around like a trophy," said Massani, "Or worse, selling her off to the highest bidder."

Kelly detected something entirely unexpected in the man's tone. Affection. How unusual.

"I think you're just underestimating Aria," Kelly replied, "But you may be right. We can't take the chance."

Massani closed his eyes. "Bloody wish I could," he muttered loudly, "Lawson is going to flay me for this."

"If she finds out," Gardner shrugged.

The high pitched whine of shuttle landing engines came through the door, followed by a silent alarm sending a red warning across Kelly's haptic interface. She swiped it away, trying to ignore the twist in her gut that it created, and sent the message to Archangel. The arrival confirmation came, but it seems that Vakarian hadn't opened it.

Too late to wait for a reply. Kelly ripped her omnitool off her wrist, ever conscious of the sounds of shouting outside. She took the powerpack of the thing out and threw it to Gardner, who had the good sense to pocket it. Next, the hard-drive. It was tiny, so she found a drain nearby and slipped it down the grate. Lastly, the omni itself, she tossed as far as she could into the far corner, where it would likely be mistaken for a discard.

Now only Archangel had the message.

Just in time too, as the doors to the warehouse began opening again, rolling and squeaking to the side. Kelly slipped on her armoured helmet and mask again, to at least maintain some idea that the interrogation that had just occurred was less personal than it had been. Gardner followed suit, for uniformity's sake if anything.

The exact person that everyone present had wanted to avoid like the plague stepped into the space. She did so alone, but the sight of turians, batarians, asari and krogan in heavily armed, large numbers hanging around outside meant she had absolutely nothing to fear.

Aria T'loak walked up to Kelly, Gardner and the still-kneeling Zaeed Massani with a serene, almost bored look. She was dressed in a sort of white gown cut to the waist, exposing much of her chest and back, with black combat fatigues and boots over her lower half. A devastating combination that contrasted strongly with her purple skin.

Kelly could appreciate it completely and promised to herself to do something similar, if she survived the events of the night. Another weapon for the arsenal of spy tricks.

Aria ignored Kelly and Gardner, and concentrated on the more famous person in the room.

"My my, Zaeed Massani," the Queen of Omega said, her voice echoing, "Getting yourselves into all sort of trouble."

"It's my job," Zaeed replied, "I guess you know by now that the Broker is after me."

"Tarak got caught by that incendiary grenade of yours," Aria replied, "He's suffering with some pretty bad burns at the moment, which meant all I had to do to get him to talk was slap him a little. Whatever did you do to piss off the Broker?"

Kelly held her breath. Massani's lie had to be perfect, or Aria would see right through it.

"Tried to assassinate him," Zaeed shrugged, "Put a nuke on his station. Rescued a Cerberus operative. Nothing personal, but you know the Broker. He's the vindictive sort."

Aria stared at him for a moment, scrutinising his face. Zaeed met the stare head on, betraying nothing. She betrayed nothing of her opinion on whether or not he was telling the truth, and instead turned to Kelly.

"You got the better of the Eclipse today," she said, "That doesn't happen often. They're furious."

Kelly cleared her throat, putting on the airs of a true mercenary leader as best she could.

"So what?" she said, "Were we supposed to leave a prize like this untouched because the Eclipse will be angry?"

The Queen's lip twitched upwards, approvingly, for a split second.

"You weren't sent the Broker's offer," Aria said calmly, "How did you find out about it?"

"Spies in the Blue Suns and Eclipse," Kelly replied, truthfully, "Neither pay their techies enough. Although I'm sure you know that."

Aria pursed her lips, before approaching Kelly. The Queen of Omega pulled off the face-mask and helmet on Kelly's head, and stroked her cheek with a half-gloved purple hand. Kelly could do nothing but stand stock still. Aria's biotic power was terrifying, and the subject of regular bulletins all over the station to keep everyone reminded of the fact. Resistance was death here.

"You are very self-confident," Aria said, "But then most of you humans are."

The first of the Queen's hands was joined by the other, as Aria caressed Kelly's pale white skin in a disturbing, possessive way. Kelly's mouth went dry, and she was sure that her suppression of her own fear had failed. Aria now knew something was wrong.

The purple hands curled around Kelly's throat, gently.

"I have lost much to human arrogance in the past few years," Aria continued, her tone becoming lower and threatening, "First, Cerberus seizes prime coreward real estate after your Alliance clears out the pirates there. The geth attack you, and you take the entire eastern Terminus with your new quarian friends. And as if that wasn't enough, you go and topple the Batarian Hegemony, cutting the demand for slaves by two thirds in a single month."

Aria's hands tightened around Kelly's throat, thumbs on her oesophagus. She could still breath, barely. She began to hear the sound of her own heart struggling to pump blood into her head, and feel the heat of her skin turning red. Gardner twitched his hand towards his weapon in her peripheral vision. Stupid. Kelly desperately used what little strength she had left in her right arm to wave him off.

The Queen of Omega leaned in, cheek-to-cheek. It was a strangely pleasant sensation, Kelly's mind thought, wandering as it was starved of the full oxygen it needed.

"Did you think I didn't know who you are?" Aria whispered in her ear, "Did you think I would let Alliance fronts run riot in my little kingdom? I might expect that from Eclipse or the other two big merc companies, but you are just too small to get away with it. Even if you weren't spies and saboteurs loyal to the people who have pissed all over me."

Aria squeezed hard. Kelly felt her consciousness fade away.

She began to have 'that' conversation with herself. This is it. This is how I die. Was it worth it? Was it worth dying for the cause? Was saving Shepard worth sacrificing herself? Her vision swam, the purple of Aria's face mashing into a kaleidoscope with the whites and reds of the background lighting for a moment. It began to get dark.

Suddenly, relief came. Kelly found herself on her side on the floor, life restored to her, sucking in the nasty air of Omega like it was pure mountain spring water after a death march through the desert. She rubbed her abused neck, and looked up at the Queen, completely amazed she was still alive.

There was a long pause, as Aria seemed to wait for Kelly to recover enough to be able to speak. She even allowed Gardner to kneel down and support Kelly, to hand off a flask of actual water which was downed greedily.

"Don't look too hopeful," Aria said, standing over her, "It isn't over yet." She looked to Massani.

"I'll give you both one chance," she continued, "The first person to tell me the locations of the other two souls the Broker wants to put in his personal hell gets to live."

The asari's eyes tracked back to Kelly. She stayed quiet. For one, she had no idea about any third person. For another, her mind still tired and reeling from the attack minutes earlier, she couldn't formulate a good enough lie to tell about Shepard. But the fact that Shepard's name hadn't yet come up in the conversation gave her a small sliver of possibility, and the only way to hold on to it was to keep her mouth shut.

She thanked her good sense for not having put Zaeed through anything he couldn't handle before Aria had showed up.

"Look, the Broker doesn't give a damn about Feron," Zaeed said loudly, "The frog was an errand boy, got me onto the Broker's base, nothing more. He got off Omega almost as soon as he arrived, he's long gone."

Aria grinned viciously, all canines. "A Cerberus operative pleading for the life of a drell," she said, "Things have changed."

Kelly realised that Massani really was the sentimental type deep down. First affection for Shepard, and now defending an alien despite his allegiance? She wondered how he would react to the death of either, her mind still unable to be kept from wandering in its fatigue. It was a strange thought to have, considering.

"You know god damned well why they have changed," Zaeed replied harshly, "Or didn't you notice the fucking squid-shaped dreadnought with a mind of its own flying around this part of space a couple of years back?"

"Yes yes, Reapers," said Aria with a dismissive flick of her hand, "You humans have a good expression for these problems; _We'll cross that bridge when we come to it._ If we ever do come to it at all. I am far from convinced."

Aria turned around and took a few steps back towards the doors. "The drell isn't on board," she said, turning around again with fresh evil in her eyes, "What about the other one? The human with the deadshot eye."

Kelly finally felt well enough to try and lie. "We don't know," she rasped, her hand rubbing the front of her throat, "This idiot sent her down a vent into the tunnels, she could be anywhere on the station or even off of it by now."

"Considering I set my defences to automatically fire on anything leaving the shuttle bays and docks, I doubt the woman has left," Aria said, moving closer again, "And no one is stupid enough to try and run the gauntlet. I've upgraded my defences to stop you humans from trying to topple me, like you did with the geth or batarians. Nothing gets off Omega while they're active, and everyone knows it."

"So she's somewhere on the station," Zaeed said, "How the fuck are either of us supposed to know where exactly?"

Aria strode over to the mercenary, grabbed him by the collar of his armour, and used her biotics to hoist him clear off the ground and into the air.

"Don't be stupid, Zaeed," Aria said, "You must have a place to meet her if you get separated."

"Yeah, I do," Zaeed grunted back, unperturbed by the display of power, "A place in Gozu that she won't go anywhere near now, because she knows that I'm either dead or captured. She'll likely just hide out until you are forced to lift the blockade of the docks, and she's very good at hiding."

Aria let out a groan of annoyance, and tossed the mercenary fifteen feet along the ground for his trouble, a flash of purple dark energy with it. Kelly grit her teeth at the sound of Massani thumping to the floor, knowing that must have hurt badly and feeling sympathetic pain on seeing it.

"It seems like neither of you have any answers for me," she said, "Or at least, won't tell me anything before the Broker decides to make his offer to others, complicating things."

Aria drew a pistol, that had been concealed at the small of her back until the flowing white fabric that covered it.

"Zaeed, you spoke up first with good information," she declared, "So you get to live today."

Zaeed glanced at Kelly, and back to the Queen. All he could do was give a small nod, and get to his feet, his hands being tied behind his back making that a difficult task.

Aria pointed the pistol at her. Kelly felt her body seize up. It was some monstrously modified Terminus model, with a blue icon indicating it was loaded up with disruptor capability. Her kinetic barriers would be useless at this range. She was going to die, and so soon after she thought she might live.

"Goodbye," Aria said.

But not to Kelly.

The Queen of Omega shifted her aim ever so slightly, and pulled the trigger. The mass accelerator pistol spat its microbullet past Kelly's head with a crack. Gardner fell forwards, the left lens of his armoured mask cracked and shattered, blood pouring out of the hole. His body twitched slightly, as the last remnants of life left it.

Kelly struggled to maintain control, unable to tear her eyes from her former colleague.

"He said nothing," Aria said, "Counting on you to deflect my questions. You succeeded. But there is a cost to defying me."

Her resolve finally breaking, Kelly stood up. "That man had been ordered to stay quiet!" she said, "If you know I'm an Alliance spy, then you know this won't be overlooked! Beat us, deport us, hell, even torture us, and you can escape unscathed. Killing us is something entirely different."

Aria laughed, heartily amused by the continued refusal to accept the reality of the situation. Even Kelly knew it was a pathetic retort. The Alliance certainly could have overthrown Aria, but the cost would not have been negligible.

"You humans really are hopeless," she said to Zaeed, "But that's why you're so entertaining. In small numbers."

The Queen crept up close to Kelly again, close enough to touch. "You have another virtue," she half-growled, "You females look just like asari. It's very erotic."

Aria grabbed Kelly by the jaw and belt, pressing herself against the spy.

Teeth into the side of her neck, hard enough to draw blood. Kelly gasped with the pain of the assault, not enjoying it in the slightest, struggling to push the asari off of her. That managed to stop the bite, but Aria did not move away.

"You lied to me," Aria hissed, "Or you didn't tell me the whole truth. That requires punishment. You are lucky I find you amusing. You are coming with me."

Kelly, despairing about what that might entail, felt the pressure and desperation rise in her head, like a kettle coming to a boil. She reached for her own pistol, holstered at the side of her thigh. The alternative was obvious; slavery was her future if she did not act now.

A hand reached out and grabbed her own, preventing her from moving her pistol more than an inch out of its holster.

Both Aria and Kelly looked to see that Zaeed had rapidly moved and stopped the action. He must have undone his restraints at some point, but only now thought it wise to shed them. Aria glanced downwards at his extended arm and hand, and saw the pistol. She plucked it away, throwing it over her shoulder with complete ease.

"You should do what she says," Zaeed advised the spy, "Better than dying, darling." His eyes were dead serious, sending fury to replace desperation in her mind.

"Is it?" Kelly growled, "Being this one's plaything? I am not a slave."

"No, you're a prisoner," Aria said, wrenching the human's head back by the hair, "Until I get the Broker's targets on this station or I know for sure they've escaped, I'm going to do whatever I like with you. You're going to comply... no, you're going to like it, because if you don't, the pirates and raiders attacking human colonies are going to receive my blessing. Good luck hunting them down without starting a war after that."

Kelly snarled insults at Aria, but the Queen ignored her.

"The Broker thinks he can do whatever he likes," Aria said, "Cerberus, the Alliance, the mercenary companies, everyone does. I can't help but think that everyone has lost their fucking minds. That everyone has forgotten who rules here."

Aria let go of Kelly, and smoothed down the front of her gown-top, before clenching a fist in front of herself, biotic energy streaming off of it in loose flares.

"There is only one law on Omega," she said, "Don't _fuck_ with Aria."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apologies for the huge delay for this. Other things are getting in the way of my writing, hence why pretty much everything was on hiatus in March. Outlander's next chapter is almost done too, for those interested in that story of mine also. I also expect to FINALLY get started on the battle chapters of the First Contact War volume in my Wars of the Systems Alliance story, after almost a year of not updating it._

 _So, stay tuned for all of that._

 _I hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

 _ **Just a Crazy-Man:** Thanks mate_

 _ **KnightOfHolyLight:** The canon doesn't exactly show C-Sec as a consistently competent organisation. In fact, it seems to be modelled on the corruption, incompetence and prejudice of the old NY and Chicago police departments. Although not quite on Baltimore-in-the-Wire's level._

 _Zaeed is one of my favourites, and he's under-appreciated. Probably because he's a relatively old dude. *shrugs*_

 _Hannah will get her codex entry when her own perspective chapter comes along._

 _ **Apollonir:** Well, a little comedy to break the HFY grimdarkishness is always good, I think._

 _All agreed on Zaeed._

 _ **CReaper210:** Yeah, the quarians have the largest fleet in the galaxy. Since peacekeeping and border protection are parts of the role of the Citadel Council, they're more or less the only species except humanity that could join the Council in my opinion. Well, apart from the pre-curbstomped Hegemony, that is._

 _ **aDarkOne:** This is a Humanity Fuck Yeah fic, for one thing. Humanity being awesome on some level is sorta a requirement of the genre. For another, I don't see how chapter three would provoke your response. Of course human intelligence agencies are well equipped to handle counterintelligence. The aliens made first contact violently, humanity got plenty of warning to keep their wits about them, and they discovered the mass effect in the midst of a world war in this canon, and so still have something of that mindset._

 _ **Ajp25:** There's something of a game-story separation to be made here on both your Shepard points, I think. The games couldn't possibly portray the reality of the resources the Alliance could bring to bear, even in the central canon. Nor could they show the full backstory of Hannah Shepard or any number of other characters. That's the reason Bioware also releases novels, to flesh these things out in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age. _

_The arbitrary squad limit has always bothered me, to be honest. Having everyone along for the ride always struck me as being more realistic, so I didn't ape the game limitations in my writing._

 _As for the Reapers being scared, I think they'd press on regardless. They've had what, a million years to build up their numbers? They didn't hesitate against the galaxy-spanning Prothean Empire, they wouldn't against the current opposition either._

 _Thanks for reading this on top of my Outlander DA fics, always love it when readers grab both._

 _ **Kinnix Wolf:** I love that you love it, haha!_

 _It wouldn't be Omega in 2185 without Archangel. Although what Archangel is won't be the same, even if who he is remains so._


	6. Chapter 6: The Angel of Death

**Chapter Six: The Angel of Death**

The tunnels under the streets of Omega were surprisingly clear and well lit, if red emergency lighting counted for anything. Despite signs hanging above every exit stating 'DANGER - SEWAGE AND OTHER HAZARDOUS WASTE', the only indication that there was anything like that was the occasional waft of rancid air, which seemed to cluster around the exits themselves. Something to discourage people from climbing down? The rumble of the floor under-foot and the number of pipes leading from the ceiling to the floor suggested that the real sewers ran just below the tunnels.

She wandered through the labyrinthine network, her brain scratched behind her eyes, trying to remind her of something else. Multi-leg, multi-arm bug creatures, the size of people, cleaning and repairing things like it was their only reason for existence. The memory, if it was one, was off though. The place she remembered the creatures in was bright, shiny, and the lights were white not crimson. The low lighting of the place didn't seem to bother her as much as it should have.

The only exception to the rule of the tunnels apparent cleanliness were bodies. Three times, large shafts stretched up to the upper levels above Her, and without fail, all of them had a collection of corpses splattered at the bottom. Some were stripped down to bones. Others were fresh and oozing, whatever creatures that ate the flesh not wishing to be seen doing so in the presence of a living person. All the sentient species were represented. Omega didn't discriminate.

Each time She came across the makeshift mass graves, the sight of the piles of bodies and the sheer variety of victims made her head hurt. Flashes of similar piles, or even bigger piles, flashed into her mind without cause. Unlike the reminder of the caretaker bugs, these memories didn't feel like anything She had experienced herself. Her body felt wronged every time.

Despite the setbacks, She pressed on, relying on the information Zaeed had put on her omnitool. He had outlined the full capabilities of her armour, which were both numerous and top-grade. The map provided was highly accurate. Her helmet provided real time telemetry on the environment, from light and sound sources to anomalies on the full EM spectrum.

All of which allowed her to move almost as quickly as if she had been in the network before. Yet there was something else moving her. Each time She opened her interface, she recalled that Zaeed Massani had sacrificed himself to give her this opportunity. It drove her forwards, crushing the doubt and ignorance of the locale that might have given her more caution otherwise. He'd get a big sloppy kiss if he had managed to survive, but She doubted he had.

Get to Afterlife. VIP Section. Wait for contacts. Contact will be human.

The information also included instructions on what time to wait until before she should leave the club, and when to return the next day. Afterlife was open day and night, but it wasn't a place to fall asleep or rest. It provided a list of hotels, none of which were to be considered safe but all of which were not likely to sell her out, and a cash account to pay for anything she might need.

As her journey began its third hour, She heard the sounds of alien chatter ahead, their voices disrupted by the hollow acoustics of the tunnels to the point where her neural translator device couldn't make sense of them.

The tunnel ahead was a squared-off S shape, the corners darkened and the straight sections illuminated. It was also the shortest way through to Afterlife, the others taking far more circuitous routes and one even categorically warned as 'extremely dangerous'.

As slow, steady footsteps got closer and the alien voices began to be tangible enough to translate, She did something that seemed so natural to her, it was like breathing. Not a single nerve agitated by the arrival of possibly hostile aliens, she activated her tactical cloak and stepped into the dark corner to await them.

The conversation of the aliens came before they themselves did.

"...she really think that the Blood Pack are using these tunnels to defy her order?" said one flanged voice, "I know they send vorcha into the deeps looking for hidden ways to infiltrate other territories, but still..."

"The Broker just offered everything to get his hands on Massani's little girlfriend," replied another, guttural voice with a heavy accent, "With the information and backing of someone like that, the Pack could re-establish a krogan empire out here. The number of fucks they give about Aria's opinion is only proportional to how much they fear her, and with the Broker on their side, they get brave pretty fast."

"I suppose they all did," said the first voice, "Hear what happened to Tarak? Stepped into a thermite-phosphorous composite grenade. Our people had to dig the burning pieces out with a knife before he'd stop screaming, so Aria could talk to him."

"I'm more interested in what happened to that human group that took Massani off the Eclipse," the second growled, "Took him alive too. But then, they're all humans in CAT6, I've seen them at Afterlife. Out here, that screams Alliance black ops to me..."

As She listened to this conversation, she felt her heart rise a little with happiness hearing that her saviour was alive. Alive meant She could return the favour. The joy was soon interrupted by surprise.

The batarian had continued talking, something about human treachery and ambition. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and a raucous, chirping laughter began instead. A turian's laugh, She knew.

"Ever heard of Cerberus?" the first voice chuckled, "Not every human group in the Terminus works for the Alliance. I know you have your loyalties, but by the spirits, they turn you into a serious asshole when it comes to the humans."

A suspicion formed in the back of her head. One that might require an answer. She reached blindly for the automatic shotgun that had been provided to her. Its form was invisible, just like she was, but the sound of it readying to fire might have been heard if it hadn't been for the argument unfolding nearby.

"Shut your mouth, turian!" the second voice shouted, "Alliance, Cerberus, what does it matter? The pinkskin apes want to take over the galaxy! Have you heard their insane ramblings about sentient dreadnoughts?"

The footsteps resumed, becoming louder as they cleared the first corner. She cradled the weapon against her hip, aiming it in the direction of the voices using her helmet HUD.

"Most humans are more of a sort of … light brown though," said the first voice, obviously turian now, "I've also seen white and black ones. Well, very dark brown. No pink."

"They all look the same on the inside," the second voice informed the turian, "They're only good for two things; killing and fucking. You get to see what colour they really are either way. Pink."

Her suspicions were confirmed by the rant of the man, but she kept her cool, waiting for the pair to come to her.

"If that's all they were good for, they wouldn't have defeated the geth," the turian responded harshly, "Not to mention humiliating your precious Hegemony the first time around, and using your own people to conquer it the next."

"You best watch your words turian," the second voice warned, "You should not kick at boulders while standing under them. Your people were humiliated by them too."

"One, they're not my people, and two, they lost a skirmish," the turian replied, "You have a big mouth, small brain, and probably a tiny prick. Bragging about raping humans might be something that impresses other four-eyed tiny-pricks, but it screams desperation to me. Asari not take to a gentleman like you?"

The sound of a weapon cocking rang out.

"I said watch your mouth, turian!" the second voice roared, "Or I'll give you a second asshole large enough to accommodate the head you have. That ugly face of yours belongs up there."

The turian gave a derisive avian snort. "Why am I out here with you again?" he said, "We hate each other."

"The feeling is mutual, don't worry," the second voice said, "Aria took everyone out to stop the mercs from fighting. We're the only ones left except the guards at Afterlife."

The two rounded the last corner of the tunnel, the one directly opposite to the hiding place She had selected. Both in light combat armour with kinetic barriers. Not high quality equipment, but enough. Enough to deflect a single Viper shot, by her evaulation, if that was what She had decided to use.

The one on the left was a turian, as expected, armed with a pirate-manufacture Avenger. The other to the right was a batarian, carrying a Lieberschaft 2180 shotgun. Looted from someone's corpse. The writing on the side and human finger bones tied up with little chains on the barrel were not his.

The familiar cold fury fell on her like rain, her senses sharpening and her anticipation for the moment to come reaching its climax. She realised she wanted this. It seemed unusual. But it didn't stop her. She let them approach a little closer.

"Yeah, I got that," the turian continued, "But why were we chosen out of those left behind?"

She answered with her shotgun.

It barked twice rapidly, so quickly that the two shots felt more like one, only the muzzle flashes failing to merge together. The batarian was hit by most of the sixteen projectiles. The first burst into his side, his shields blinking out in response to the pressure. The second into his left leg, tearing through the inadequate armour.

The turian flinched and stared at his injured compatriot, giving her an easy stationary target. She pumped the rest of her magazine into him on automatic, his defences absolutely no help at the range of less than a dozen paces, his torso shredded by the hits.

Both targets collapsed, in a spray of orange-red and blue-purple blood respectively. The turian simply as a collection of meat and bone. The batarian managed to break his fall with an arm, landing with a grunt.

It had all been over in seconds.

She really liked this, She knew. With each discharge, she felt herself built up, her heart beat that much faster, her focus increased. Yet the image of the shivering batarian and the broken turian was not a pleasant one. Intellectually, she recognised that it would disturb most beings. Without full access her memories, She couldn't understand her pleasure.

Whatever thoughts she might have had about this, the batarian groaned and laid on his back, trying to call up something on his omnitool. Not a communications relay, She understood, the signals didn't get through down there. A medical programme, maybe?

She strode over, reloading her shotgun, and stood over him, looking down at the thing. The revulsion and anger She couldn't comprehend the source of flowing into once again. But restraint was required; She had left the thing alive for a good reason.

"What does Aria know?" she asked, her voice ringing slightly metallic through her helmet speakers, "Does she know who I am?"

The batarian groaned, curling forwards, attempting to administer the medigel to his legs. She kicked his arm away, and pinned him to the ground by stepping on it.

"As far as you know, who am I?" She asked again, "Why does the Shadow Broker want me?"

Something looking like understanding formed in the four dark eyes of the man, before being replaced by defiance. "You're her," he hissed, "Of course you are."

She twisted her boot on his arm, pushing more of her bodyweight onto it. "Who am I?"

"I have no idea, you crazy bitch!" the batarian said, "All we were told was that the Shadow Broker wants you, and the mercs were given contracts to capture you. Aria is pissed, and wants to know what's so special about you. Only thing we know to look out for is a human female wearing black armour from head to toe."

That was good news. They didn't have a name, a face, or even a real physical description. It meant she could probably blend in with the clientele of Afterlife for long enough to make the meeting with Massani's Cerberus contacts. Her armour wouldn't give her away either; it had both passive and active camouflage, so she could set most of its panels to a colour other than black.

Which just left the loose end to tie up.

"You know I can't let you live, right?" She said, "You'd report seeing me here. In the tunnels that only really lead one place."

"You humans are all cultureless, rootless murderers," the batarian spat, wrenching against her foot, "I expect nothing less."

Amusement bubbled up her throat, his assertion so absurd after the little speech he had made to his very dead not-friend. She had a thought, to test the truth of some of her personal history according to Cerberus.

She reached up and took off her helmet, shaking her long blood-red hair loose, and returned her gaze to her victim. At first, he didn't react. He just looked on as he had been before, with fury and dread. Disappointing, she thought, until she realised that she was entirely cloaked in shadow.

Seeing the problem, She pulled the hair hanging on the right side of her face up and over her head, so that the dim light could allow a better look.

The batarian's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Impossible," he said, "You're dead.."

Well then, She thought, Massani's information was accurate enough. Being recognised as 'Jane Shepard' was something to worry about, but not something that could stop her. People saw the dead everywhere, even in faces not at all alike those who were gone.

"How are you here!" the batarian continued, "You're dead!"

That was the reaction She had expected. Batarians had every reason to hate her, to want her dead.

The thing growled up at her. "If you're still breathing then I'll kill you!" He struggled underneath her, the pain of his wounds making him scream out with every exertion. His stubbornness sent a curl of disgust through her throat. She stepped on his wound, and it had the desired effect; he roared and collapsed back onto his back, the sharp pain too much.

"You're not real," he grunted, barely conscious, "...You're a clone, or someone wearing her face. The Butcher is dead. The last just act of the Hegemony..." His eyes shifted to her, regaining their previous focus a little.

She sighed. What a pitiful thing she had made him. It wasn't her way to leave someone like this.

"What use is four eyes if you don't believe them?" She said, shaking her head.

And her business with the batarian concluded, via the means of yet another shotgun discharge, this time directed into his face.

* * *

The Afterlife section was a hive of shops, apartments and dark alleys, all lit in the same red and orange light that seemed to pervade everything on the station. The tunnels led into one of the latter, the only true open space in the area being that outside the front door of the nightclub itself. A landing area for aircars, a small spacedock for the ships of high-end clients, corridors leading to a market and apartment complexes, all around a large plaza.

She watched people coming and going for a while. Having changed the colour of her armour panels to white and purple like a Sirta Foundation pattern, as well as left her helmet off, there was little chance she'd be recognised as the woman everyone was looking for. She was already too late to make the first meeting; the incident with the batarian and turian in the tunnels hadn't taken that long, but a group of maintenance drones blocking her way for almost two hours at a chokepoint had.

Omega was a true mix of every spacefacing species, it seemed. She wondered to herself what Cerberus thought of that. Did they abhor it? Or did they nod to themselves, ready to point out the squalor and violence of the place as being the result of the rootlessness of the people here? All She knew is that she was a human, and there had been no shortage of nasty looks and nastier curses in tongues her neural translator couldn't parse in real-time. She didn't doubt that there was hatred there, and didn't doubt that the humans of Omega were sympathetic to Cerberus as a result.

Yet they still queued up outside of Afterlife, shoulder to shoulder with the rest, without killings. Maybe that had something to do with the elcor bouncer. Maybe it had more to do with whom the giant creature worked for.

Aria T'loak hung over every molecule here, and She could feel it. As if the only reason material existence didn't collapse into its constituent elements was because the Queen ruled that some cohesion was necessary.

She had enough of sightseeing. Her professional side told her to head to one of the hotels on Massani's list and wait it out, but there was an edge to that. She felt... out of place. Unable to define herself. The information she had been given and discovered helped, but the unease made her feel sick whenever she was idle for too long. Even now, she had grown bored of observing the crowds and kept

It was going to be a full eighteen hours before her Cerberus contact would return to the rendezvous point. Taking away eight for sleep, that meant ten hours of nothing to fill, nothingness that would likely kill her.

She wanted to get a drink. Her brain provided the excuse; scope out the terrain, get the lay of the land, just in case the Cerberus operative is followed. And if you have a Manhattan while you're doing that, who will complain?

The journey to the VIP section was short. Taking the corridor to the market, she passed by the shuttlebay for travel to Gozu District. A batarian preacher made a speech to a crowd of humans, telling them that they were unclean, that they were the agents of something called the Reapers. Her desire to kill the madman was strong, especially as her head began to hurt when he made that final mention, but the laughter of the humans around him stopped her. He was a joke to them, not a threat. She moved on quickly, her sense of unease and her need for a salve for her woes greatly increased.

The marketplace was unremarkable, more or less the same as any shopping mall save for the alleys between shops being filled with vorcha. People conducted their business as amiably as they could, their weapons remaining slung for the quick draw nonetheless. It was a short trip to her destination, and she wasn't once tempted by anything being advertised for sale on the large holograms.

She finally made it to the door of the VIP section, which was a standard sized sliding model with little . The guard was a turian in grey armour, toting an Avenger and shifting his weight on his dog-legs. Bored, She realised.

Approaching, the bouncer/guard held up his three-fingered hand. "Hold it right there," he said, flanged voice calm, "This is the VIP section. You want in, you go upstairs like everyone else."

"Jaruut says otherwise," She said, before throwing a smile in to make sure that the cheeky reply was in good humour.

The turian stared at her, and for a moment, She thought her response's intent had gone over his head. The lack of solid memories was interfering with her ability to judge the moods of aliens. However, the bouncer gave a tilted-nod. "Okay, you're obviously new," he said, "Rules are simple. You're not allowed to start a fight, but if someone comes at you, you are allowed to end it. We'd prefer if you didn't use …" He paused, looking at the weapons on Her back.

"That arsenal you seem to be packing," he concluded.

She regretted taking the weapons of the pair from the tunnels now, but the turian nodded again, this time in appreciation.

"You've got good taste in guns," he added, looking her in the eyes again, "Head on in."

She gave her thanks as she breezed past him, more at ease with every passing step.

The club was a pair of two circular spaces, with a giant hologram in the centre, glowing purple and projecting a repeating video of an asari stripper dancing. The outer circle was for seating, dark save for some lamps to let the clientele move around without falling on their asses or bumping into things. The bar was tucked away to the left of the entrance, stools in front of it almost all empty, contrary to the seats which were more than half full.

The inner circle was a dancefloor, separated from the outer one by a gap containing lighting equipment below, and filled to capacity. The only sound to be heard was the rapid beats of a techno song. She wanted to dance, the pulses and shift of the music coupling with the asari dancers. Her head hurt again, briefly, before a pleasant feeling of half-memory quieted it.

The drink first. The air was stuffy, and while her suit regulated temperature, she'd feel better with it.

She moved in. A kid, looking maybe eighteen at most, tried to talk to her, something about tickets for a band, but she pushed him gently out of the way and ignored his protest. Nothing was going to stop her.

A human bartender wearing a casual grey and black server uniform approached and looked at Her, expecting an order. His clothing was stamped with the logo of the Greek letter Omega that Aria had adopted as her own; another random fact gleaned from her memories. Through clenched teeth, She gave her order, and leaned on the bar. Why could she recall tiny things like that, but not her own life?

She strained her mind, trying to force the memories to come forth as she was watching him make the hard liquor mix, tapping her gloved fingers on the slightly sticky surface and hanging her head. The alcohol wouldn't help matters, but it was worth a try.

Her hair fell over her face from the sides, and She pushed it back as the drink was delivered. She picked up the glass and drank half of the contents in one, the strength of the alcohol offset by the cocktail ingredients just enough to let her enjoy it. It slid down her throat and warmed her stomach very nicely, just what she had hoped for. Maybe there was hope after all.

A rumbled growl sounded off to the side. Wondering who was pissed off now, She kept her head pointed straight ahead, glancing only for a split second to see what had produced the growl. It was a krogan. Grey-scaled, black carapaced, with big yellow iris-ed eyes, unarmed and unarmoured.

Feeling inevitability breathing down her neck as much as the krogan himself, She turned to him, sighing, before smashing her glass across the side of his skull into his eye.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: Inexcusable delays are inexcusable, my apologies to all._


End file.
